The Backyard Forest
by avafangirl
Summary: Katara is attached to the forest behind her house. During one of her usual visits she becomes unconscious and experiences a dream of something that had happened hundreds of years ago on that same spot. An incident filled with bending,murder...Zutara
1. Epilogue

Summary and epilogue for The Backyard Forest:

Katara doesn't know why, but she is attached to the dark and supposedly "haunted" (as many people believe) forest behind her house. She always feels at home there, as if she belongs.

The forest, many people say, had been the one that had been on earth since the time when people could bend the four elements. There is even the house of an old woman in the forest Katara often visits to listen to tales of the Avatar and the Fire Nation. Katara never believed in them. Ever. She just thought that they were fun to listen to but impossible to have ever happened.

During one of her usual visits, she becomes unconscious and experiences a dream of something that had happened hundreds of years ago on that same spot. An incident filled with bending, murder, hate, a great romance and surprisingly...herself. Unbeknownst to her, it was a true story andthat she is living the past again. At first she is confused, but then remebers and takes part in it as if being in a strange play.

As the dreams continue with more and more intensity, Katara realizes that these dreams are more than _just _dreams. They are a memory, a true thing that had happened to herself. With the help of the old lady, her brother Sokka and her dog, Sam, she finds herself involved in a mystery that had been waiting to be solved for years and she becomes determined to find out what had really happened.

And now the story begins.

* * *

What do you think? The first chapter:_A Dream? _will come up soon!


	2. Chapter 1 A Dream?

Hey, Thank you wilderness-writer, iamzukosnumberonefan and Zukoscute2 for the first three reviews! Here is chapter one of The Backyard Forest.

**Chapter 1 A Dream?**

"I'm going to go to the forest to finish up my homework, okay Sokka?" Katara called out to her brother in the process of putting on her coat over her jean jacket (Wouldn't that look nice on Katara? Jean Jacket with a white jacket on top, long, fading ripped jeans and hair up in a ponytail). She stuffed the unfinished homework into her Jansport backpack and slung it on both her shoulders and began to zip up her jacket.

Sokka walked out of the kitchen with a stack of oreos in his right hand and began munching on one.

"You're going into that haunted forest _again_?"

Sokka loved teasing his sisterabout it and he knew that it would annoy the hell out of her. As he predicted, she spun around and scoffed at her brother, raising a slender eyebrow.

"It isn't haunted! You are so immature Sokka. You've never even been in it! That forest" – she pointed outwards – "is the most beautiful piece of nature in this entire city! It's actually really interesting…"

Sokka held up his hands in defense, dropping some oreos on the ground and not bothering to pick them up.

"You are way to obsessed with that forest, that's all I'm saying."

Katara 'hmphed' at him and turned around, struggling with the zipper that was refusing to slid up. After a moment of watching her, Sokka softly chuckled and walked up to her.

"Hold these."

He shoved his remaining oreos into her hands, ignoring her complaints and protests, and pulled the zipper up sharply. It smoothly slid up and landed in place, in the center of the jacket, right where Katara liked it. He took back the oreos and backed off.

"You could never zip your jacket when you were a little kid, I'd always have to do it for you." He smiled.

Katara scoffed, but her expression softened. "You were only a year older than me at the most, how much more could you have known?"

"I knew how to zip a zipper." He pointed out.

She pretended to be angry and stole an oreo, laughing at Sokka's bewildered face.

"Well, I'll be back by dinner okay? And I'm taking Sam with me." She turned towards the kitchen. "Sam, come here boy!"

Their golden retriever, Sam, came running out and sat down at Katara's feet, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He loved going out on walks.

Katara grinned and gave Sam a quick rub on the head, ruffling his fur. "Okay, but I'm only taking you because you can keep me company without making too much noise. Come on boy, let's go!"

* * *

She couldn't understand how anyone could think that the forest was haunted.

Streams of sunlight squeezed through the thin spaces between tall firs and cedars over hundreds of years old. Many of them had fallen over, rotten with old age, creating even a larger obstacle for Katara and Sam. Many wild flowers and mushrooms grew out of every cracks in rocks or any spacious patch of dirt on the forest grounds.

The forest was abundant with wild herbs and berries that Katara knew all the names of. Many animals lived there too, being the only forest in the area Katara lived in.

Perhaps it was because of the small hut near the far left edge of the forest. It was where her long-time friend Aungt Wu lived. Katara had met her years ago and had taken a liking to her. Aunt Wu had taken Katara back home that night after telling her long tales about the time when people could bend and of the Avatar's duties. Katara had gone to visit her ever since and had always been welcomed arms. Aunt Wu was like her extra family memeber.

Sam barked and ran in front of Katara, often coming back to her panting form to hurry her along. Katara wiped her sweaty brow with a smile and leaned forward to put her hands on her knees.

"Hey! You have four legs, I only have two. Give me a chance!"

Sam just barked and ran on, jumping through the foliage.

* * *

"This looks like a good spot, and I'm not saying that because I'm being lazy. I really need to start my homework."

The clearing that they had found was large enough for Katara to stretch out comfortably and for Sam to run around and lie down. She walked towards the nearest base of a tall cedar tree and shrugged of her backpack with a grunt. Typing up her long brown hair out of her face in a ponytail, she crossed her legs, got comfortable, and took out her Algebra II homework.

She sighed happily. Katara loved doing her homework here, outside in the fresh air with no distracting sounds from Sokka. If only she didn't have to do her homework and study for the test on Friday, she would have been reading in the sunlight.

"I might as well get it done with."

Sam whined at her and pulled at her sleeve, begging her to play around with him for a moment longer. But Katara pushed him away.

"No Sam! I really, really have to study. I've got lots of homework! Go play by yourself or sleep or something. I'll play with you later, I promise."

Sam bowed his head and whined. He walked a few feet away from Katara and laid down onto the ground, his head on his stretched paws. He gave her his special weapon, his hurt, puppy-eyed look.

"I'm sorry boy," Katara cooed. "I promise to give you a special treat at dinner."

She spread her books out and buried her head into her work, starting to memorize different formulas and techniques for her test.

* * *

"I'm all done Sam, let's go home!"

Katara stretched out her legs and reached up high with her arms, stretching out her cramped muscles. She had been studying for three hours straight and had finished everything. Smiling proudly, she quickly gathered her books and papers into her backpack. Her mother would most likely give her a lecture if she were late for dinner again.

She shouldered her pack and looked up for Sam.

"Boy?"

Suddenly, Katara noticed how dark it had become, making every dark cornerand shadow look even gloomier. She shook her head and looked down at her feet, away from the ghostly scene.

_Agh! Stupid Sokka scaring me with stupid stories. The forest is _not_ haunted! I wish I'd brought a flashlight... _

Well, she knew that Sam would eventually come back home on his own, so she stood and started walking out of the clearing, not wanting to hear a lecture from her mother about being late…_again_.

As she was about halfway across the clearing and was climbing over a large tree root, Katara looked up and saw a tree that stood out from the rest of the others.

She hadn't noticed it before, how odd. It was a tall oak tree and looked very old, with twisted branches and long, producing limbs. Scattered leaves covered the branches and it gave the tree a rather scary image. Katara continued to stare at the tree, transfixed, as she climbed over.

At that moment, one of her feet sharply caught onto a bend in the tree root and the impact threw her into the ground, hard. She gave out a loud shout of suprise and felt herself fall backwards, trying to turn around.

She hit her head on the trunk of the tree as she fell and her vision went black.

* * *

When Katara finally opened her eyes, she thought that she had become blind. Her head was reeling from the previous bang it had received after her fall and she could see white spots dancing before her. Katara didn't even bother trying to get up and just stayed where she was lying down, closing her eyes until the world was still again.

After the motions had stopped, Katara turned her head and called for Sam.

No barking answered her call or the quick approaching steps of his paws. It was quiet and all was still.

Shaking, Katara turned to lean on one elbow and looked up.

"Sam! Come here boy!" Silence.

_Where did he go? Probably to go get Sokka_.

She felt so stupid…she should have paid more attention to climbing over the tree roots instead of staring at that twisted tree.

Katara looked around and without her vision blurred, she noticed that the place where she was, was different from the forest she had been in. It was night time, and she couldn't see beyond her own hands in the darkness besides the spots of moonlight that flitted through the trees like spotlights across a stage.

She looked at the parts of the clearing that were lit up with the glowing moonlight.

The trees nearest to her were strangely younger looking. Not the hundred-year-old trees she was used to, but ones with only a few ten's of years behind them and not as tall or wide. _Strange_…

Suddenly, another thought struck her: _How am I going to get back home?_

She considered just camping the night there instead of wandering around and getting lost.

At that moment, before she had a chance to get up, Katara saw slight movement that was gone so quickly that she thought that she had imagined it. Then...

...there it was again!

_Oh my god, it must be a bear or coyote or…_ Katara's mind kept reeling with horrible images of having to fight off wild animals when she heard a rustling in the bushes.

Katara slowly backed off and raised her hands up for pitiful defense. Suddenly, she saw a dark figure walking up towards her in a rushed way. It moved softly and quickly, slinking through the shadows. Apparently, the thing could see in the dark.

"Katara! Are you all right?"

A man's voice cut through the silence and Katara squinted into the darkness, her insides filling up with hope.

"Sokka?"

The man didn't answer.

It was someone whom Katara didn't recognize and she slowly backed away.

He continued walking towards her and was soon at her side He was kneeling beside her now, and she could see the mud on his boots, and she could smell smoke.

_Sokka hates fires, _her mind kept spinning_, he doesn't have boots like that. _

"No..." he said softly. "I'm going to stay with you at all times. You really scared me."

"What? W-Who are you?" Katara whispered. She tried to see his face, but it was hidden in the shadow; she tired again to place his voice – the deepness of it, the power of it, the kindness of it that made her want to cry. Slowly he reached for her had. She looked down and couldn't help but admire his strong but gently touch.

His fingers were long and slender, but even as he traced them across her cheeks, she could fell the roughness of them – the scars of hard work.

"Don't you remember me Katara?" he begged, "Please say something!"

Katara began to tremble. Her instincts told her to run, but realized that she was unable to move at the moment. She felt oddly frozen, a captive in some strange dream. Her mind was foggy and far away, but she could feel this stranger's touch and his voice caller her name. His touch was all too real, she was rooted to the hard, bare ground.

"No…" she muttered, "Get away from me!"

"Katara!"

She cried out as he gently called her name and took her shoulders.

_Who is this man?_ _How does he know my name?_

He eased her into a more comfortable sitting position and softly moved her long strands of hair away from her face.

_What's with my hair?_

He was closer now, in the way of a silver ray of lightand Katara could finally see his face.

It took her breath away.

The man in front of her was young and handsome, no type of guy she had ever seen back at her high school. He was nearly bald except for a queue at the top of his head. Strangely, it was attractive and made him look strong and handsome.

A large, dreadful scar – perhaps a burn? – surrounded his left eye on his otherwise smooth and flawless pale skin. The sad intensity of his eyes, his arousing lips…Katara stared because she was terrified, because she was hypnotized, because something in his gaze prevented her from looking away.

She could also see that his cloths were rather…unusual. He was wearing heavy looking armor of red and black. By the looks of it, it was all real with a breastplate, arm protectors, metal leggings and belt. She could see a fine sheen of sweat on the skin that was left bare.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

Katara frowned and whimpered. _This can't be real…_

"Don't worry," he said not waiting for an answer. "I can carry you. Here, put your arm around my neck…"

Katara looked up at him and held back a frightened sob. "I…I can walk. Yes, I'm sure I can."

He looked at her doubtfully. "Move your legs."

Katara did as he said, and was surprised to notice some restriction in her movement. To her astonishment, she looked down to see that she was wearing tight leg pants that kept close to her skin and a long blue dress cut up to her mid-thighs on both sides.

She should have been wearing jeans.

_I must be hallucinating or having a bad dream…yeah! It was from the fall!_ Katara thought_, Wake up Katara! Wake up!_

Suddenly the young man's voice but through Katara's thoughts. "Let's see if you've broken anything."

And then she could feel his hand on her ankle, gently removing her fur boots, sliding upward towards her thighs. She could feel the pressure of his fingers on her as he felt around for any injuries.

"I can get up." She insisted weakly, "Really, I can.

"Are you sure?

Katara nodded. The stranger's arms went around her waist and lifted her up as if she weighed nothing at all.

"Wait." Katara stopped him she wanted to know what was going on. Now. Cautiously she leaned into him and his grip on her tightened. "I…I don't understand what's going on."

The young man's look was grave. "It's all right Katara, you were just stunned from the fall. God, I'm so sorry that I left you alone…I promised you that I would always protect you from Zula."

_Zula? What?_ Katara shook her head still confused. _What's he talking about?_

"Where are you going to take me?"

"I won't let her hurt you. We'll go back to camp with Sokka and Aang and we'll leave towards Omashu first thing at dawn. The avatar needs to finish his training in Earthbending." He looked into her eyes and a look of sadness came to his face. "I'm so sorry Katara."

He was using words that sounded awfully familiar.

_Omashu, Earthbending... Aunt Wu told me stories about this!_ _The Avatar and his followers..._

Katara stared at him, mesmerized. His firm lips were barley an inch away from her mouth and as they lowered and softly brushed hers, she closed her eyes and rested one hand on his scarred cheek. She could feel the scar, the long jagged ridge from his ear around his whole eye.

"But you're the one that suffers…" she said softly, stroking the scar, then stopped herself.

_Why did I say that? _

Suddenly the young manbrought her up to him in a passion Katara had never known. His arms locked around her neck and his lips blazed a fiery trial from her mouth to her cheeks, her eyelids to the base of her throat. Katara moaned softly and brought her arms up to pull him closer. She tilted her head back as the kisses fell lower still, his lips burning her touched skin as if on fire. She cried out and clutched him tighter. She heard herself whispering a word – she knew that it was his name – but her voice sounded eerily silent.

He quickly pulled away and held her at arm length, startling Katara. "Not now, there isn't time…"

Katara looked into the darkness of the forest and shuddered, a feeling that Zula was there, watching everything. Something bad lay beyond the clearing, something evil.

"She'll still track us down you know." She whispered softly, "she'll kill us."

Yes, it was all coming back now.

The young man shook his head. "_No_. She'll never hurt you again. I promise you nothing ever will. I swear on my love to you."

Katara opened her mouth to speak but he covered it with his own. She could feel the world spinning around her, taking her farther away from both reality and time. And for one magical instant, she could feel his desperation, intense love, touching her soul. Time stopped for Katara. She could feel both of their hearts beating as one. When he pulled away, Katara softly swooned from the intensity of the kiss.

"You, of all people, know what Zula is capable of. That she'll never give up…like you."

"Do you think that frightens me?"

She started to answer the question but was silenced by his glance. With two fingers, he brought up an object and brought it up to her face.

"This," he whispered, "will be my forever promise and love to you Katara."

She squinted at the object, but before she could identify it, Zuko brought it down into their hands. Katara felt something cold against her fingers as Zuko slid on a ring onto her fourth finger of her left hand.

"Oh Zuko…"

Zuko grinned slightly and rubbed the back of his head.

"I didn't know if you would like it or not. When we get to Omashu, I'll find the best jeweler and I'll get you even a better one."

Katara shook her head, suprising Zuko. She looked with loving eyes at the ring and then back into Zuko's eyes.

"I'll cherish this one forever. Thank you, I really love it."

Zuko smiled and gave her cheek a kiss before giving her a large hug. Katara let out a giggleand then swatted him away.

"We should be headed back now. We've wasted enough time."

Zuko mocked anger and stood up, holding out a hand to her. "Hey! I was enjoying that. You just had to ruin the moment."

Katara laughed and took his hand. "Well I'm right and you know it."

She slightlyleaned against Zuko as they slowly started their way towards camp. But as she put pressure into her right leg, hot pain shot through her leg and fell down hard, gasping.

"Katara!"

For the second time that night, the world went black.

* * *

"Ugh…" Katara groaned and turned over on her knees with her head between both her hands. Lights flashed before her, causing her to feel nauseous. Suddenly, the spinning stopped and Katara could feel a bright glare contrasting itself from the surrounding darkness and the barking form of Sam. Someone was kneeling besides her and was trying to get her up.

_Oh no, not again…_

"Katara? Katara! Come on it's me Sokka! Your brother? Come on are you alive? What happened?" he waved the flashlight in her eyes again and she swatted it away.

Katara groaned again, but this time not from the pain. _Why did he have to lose it whenever he got nervous?_

"Yea Sokka, I'm fine." she managed to croak out. "Will you back off already? My head's about to exploded and you yelling in my ear isn't helping."

Sokka stepped back but as soon as Katara was sitting up, he came back at her, determined to get her to answer his questions.

"Katara? Come on, what happened? Oh my god did someone hurt you? Are you okay enough to talk?"

"I…no Sokka no one did anything. I tripped when I was getting up to go back home and… I tripped over something, I think it was some tree roots and I hit my head." Katara looked up at him. "Sokka, something happened, something really…unusual."

"Tell me Katara."

Katara nodded slowly. She slowly took a deep breath and started telling Sokka about her experience, but before she could speak, Sokka frowned and took her wrist.

"You're bleeding," he said.

"I know, I scraped my knee when I fell over the roots –"

"No, not your knee. Your hand."

Puzzled, Katara looked down to see a trickle of blood flowing from her left hand from something that had deeply but it. She took the flashlight from Sokka's hands and brought it up. As she saw what had cut her finger, she felt an anguished cry from her lips.

She was wearing a ring.

A thin gold band with a small ruby flame in the center.

* * *

Okay, I just wanted to start right away into the main part. I hoped that it didn't feel too rushed. Remember that Katara was 'dreaming' into the past after Zuko had joined Aang and Katara and Zuko liked each other. How was it? Plz R&R!

Next **Chapter 2: Coincidence**


	3. Chapter 2 Coincidence

Thank you for the great reviews! Really encouraging for me to go on. Well, onto Chapter 2 of The Backyard Forest!

* * *

**Chapter 2 Coincidence**

"W…where did this come from?" Katara looked at Sokka through scared eyes and repeated her question out louder. "This can't be…I mean, where did it _come_ from, Sokka?"

Sokka looked at her with bewildered eyes. "Why are you asking me? How am I supposed to know?"

"No, you don't understand! This can't be here, it's impossible!"

Sokka just stared at her. At last he asked hoarsely, "Katara? What's going on?"

But Katara couldn't answer.

All she could do was stare at the ring on her hand as the night spun black around her, as the memory of the dream came back again, echo by echo, scene by vivid scene.

Finally she took off the ring and with shaking fingers, held it up closer to the flashlight. She slowly fingered the ring around, staring at its perfection, the ruby that had been cut so smoothly and exactly into the shape ofa burningflame.

"Sokka…s-something happened when I fell and hit my head. I went unconscious…"

Katara spoke in an almost calm, monotone voice that scared Sokka badly. It was as if she were someone else, as if she were in a trance. Sokka slowly waved a hand in front of her face and looked into Katara's pale face.

"Uhh…Katara?"

Katara's eyes suddenly snapped back to normal and she raised a hand to her head.

"Sorry Sokka, just a headache."

Then she looked at him. "Sokka, something happened, someone came to help me after I woke up. I mean before you…"

Sokka gave his sister a confused look before he asked, "Who? Aunt Wu?"

"N…no." Katara spoke slowly, her brow furrowed in thought. "Look Sokka, this is going to sound crazy, but when I was unconscious, someone came and helped me. Someone not from our time. He knew me, I knew him and well…we were…in love with each other."

It sounded so stupid when she had said it out loud. Like she was making too big a deal out of something like this. But if Sokka had been there, he would have known that it had been real. Katara waited for him to laugh at her, but all he did was stare at her, mouth slightly apart.

Katara hesitated but then added, "It all seemed so real and natural. It was like I'd just stepped into a play where I knew all the lines. He came over…and…tried to get me up and back to his camp."

She broke off. Without warning, Zuko's golden eyes and handsome face filled her mind, gazing at her with the sorrow of impending death. Katara felt the sadness and she tried to push the image away.

Sokka was silent for a long time, a number of emotions flying over his face.

"Sokka, this wasn't just a dream." Katara said at last.

He rubbed at his forehead. "Well was he…you know…transparent or something?"

"If you mean like a ghost then no. He was as solid and real as you or me. He held me, Sokka. He was breathing and alive."

"But not really." Sokka seemed determined to make this point clear. "He _seemed_ to be alive in your dream, but not really alive, right?"

Katara made a frustrated sound. "I told you I can't explain it. I know what you're trying to say, but yes – at the time, in the experience – he was real."

"You could have been hallucinating. You know, from the fall."

"But I wasn't. I remember calling for Sam. I remember how my head was pounding. I didn't imagine that. And anyway how else can you explain this?"

Katara looked down at the ring. Sokka said nothing.

"Zuko gave this to me right before we started towards camp."

"You mean he gave the other Katara a ring," Sokka corrected. "In the dream."

Katara rolled her eyes. Her brother's stubborn character really got annoying at times. She just ignored him.

"Zuko gave me this ring, Sokka. I've never _seen_ this ring before tonight. If you're so sure this whole thing was some figment of my imagination, then how did this get on my hand Sokka?"

"Maybe you don't remember. Maybe you had temporary amnesia or something and found the ring on the ground and put it on. I've heard of that before – temporary amnesia. From trauma and stuff."

Katara gave him a look. "Even if it's coming from you that's pathetic."

"Okay," Sokka conceded. "Maybe not amnesia."

"Why are you arguing about this with me?"

"I'm not – "

"Yes you are! You always get like this when you're scared."

He scoffed at her. "Scared? I'm not the one who's freaked out about a dream and some stupid ring!" he said irritably, getting to his feet. "I'm tired, freezing my butt off and I'm just trying to figure stuff out."

"Well so am I!" Katara defended herself.

Katara gave a snort of laughter. "So what is this? A recarination? Time travel?"

"I don't know what I'm saying." Katara returned impatiently. "But this ring…" She brought it up again close to the flash light. "How could a ring have crossed over from one…what? – dimension? –into another one?"

Sokka just chewed his bottom lip and didn't answer. Instead, he took the ring from Katara and slid it onto her fourth finger.

A perfect fit.

Just as if it had been made for her.

A painful chill cut straight through Katara's heart. Sokka reached over and quickly took it off and put it into one pocket of his jeans.

"Hey Katara, hear is the best explanation yet. Are you listening to me?" he enunciated each word slowly. "You had a nightmare, Kat. Just leave it at that."

"I loved him Sokka.Whoever he was – whoever I was – loved him _so much._ How'd I get caught up in this?"

She heard her brother sight again. She could feel him gently chafing her arms, trying to warm her up.

"Come on Katara," he finally said. "It was just a dream. You had a nightmare. You're making way too much out of this – "

"How can you say that? You can't even explain how some strange ring ended up on my finger!"

Sokka's face suddenly lit up. "Maybe it was lodged in one of the branched of the bushes or something all these years. Maybe when you were climbing and fell, it came loose and got on your finger – "

"Oh Sokka come on!"

"Okay, I don't know how it got there. I don't." Releasing her, Sokka stepped back and made a gesture of surrender. "I wanna believe that it's explainable. I wanna believe it's just some sort of weird coincidence, that is doesn't have anything to do with anything."

Her brother looked so frustrated that Katara had to smile.

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

"Well…yeah. Mostly anyway."

"But can't we find out?" Sniffling from the cold, Katara got up.

Sokka just crossed his arms. "From who? A 'dream specialist'? and why would you want to? Look at how upset you are – why make it any worse?"

"I-I don't know. I just feel that I need to know."

"Whatever, fine. Can we just go? I can't feel my legs any more."

Sheepishly Katara realized how cold he must be. She pulled off her white top jacket and he gratefully put it on. Together they walked back to their house, Sam leading the way so that they wouldn't be wandering around in the dark fog and getting lost.

Soon, to their relief, they set foot in their bright, warm kitchen. A sweatshirt lay wadded on the tabletop along with dirty dishes, a carton of milk next to the left over crumbs of eaten oreos, and mom's Friday night meatloaf sat cold and uneaten in a pan on the kitchen counter.

Rolling her eyes at Sokka's mess, Katara went straight to the cupboard to make hot chocolate.

"You really banged yourself up," Sokka noticed, pointing to the showing skin under her ripped jeans. "You'd better put something on those cuts."

Katara nodded glumly. Somehow bruises and scraped knees seemed unimportant in the general scheme of events. She sliced a slab of meat and nibbled at the edge, not really tasting it.

"I'm going to go to Aunt Wu's tomorrow to ask her some questions. I may be a little late."

Sokka stared at his sister. "You're gonna go to _her_ for answers? Why? She's such an old fogie pretending to know all about the 'Avatar's time', bending the elements and telling the future. Ha, what a bunch of nonsense. It would be a waste of time going to her."

"This seemed like it happened a pretty long time ago. And Zuko – um, the guy from the dream – is whom I remember as, I think, the Prince Zuko from Avatar Aang's time. I can't be too sure, but I think that's right."

"A prince huh? Nice."

Katara shot him a look and finished the last piece of meatloaf.

"Whatever, I mean you never know."

She played with her fork before she looked up at her brother with a sly smile.

"So….Sokka. Speaking about 'loved ones', are you going to finally ask Yue to the school dance?"

Sokka turned his head towards her and blinked furiously. "W-what? Where did _that_ come from?"

"Just changing the subject for a while. So? Are you?"

Sokka blushed a bright red, letting his guard down for a minute. "Katara, why would I ask Yue to the dance? Give me one good reason."

"Because she wantsyou to." Katara shot back at him without hesitation. "Because she's had a major crush on you, like, forever but is too stubborn to admit it. And I know that you like her too and the guys should always make the first move in a situation like this." Katara smiled at him, knowing that there was no way for him to escape. "And that's two reasons already. I'm sure that I can come up – "

"F-fine! Whatever, I'll ask Yue to that stupid dance to get you to shut up."

But Katara could see the faint smile on his lips. "Then do it now. I want to actually hear you ask her on the phone."

Without missing a beat, Sokka gestured toward the kitchen clock. "Right Katara – it's one' o clock in the morning!"

"It is?" Surprised, Katara glanced up at the clock and then back at her brother. She could see the triumph in Sokka's eyes and for a second she felt strangely disoriented. "That's funny…I feel like…" she put a hand to her temple and frowned. "I feel like it should be later. I fell like I've been gone for…"

"Years?" Sokka snickered.

The mood changed abruptly.

As Katara frowned at him, Sokka went quiet.

He reached into his picket, pulled out the ring and carefully placed it on the table. For a few minutes, they simply sat and stared at it. Katara could see the ruby flame flash from the light coming in through the window, making it dance around as if it were real.

It was Sokka who finally broke the silence. "You should take it back to the forest. And leave it there."

"No," Katara shook her head. "You take it. I don't ever want to look at it again."

Not giving him a chance to answer, she left the kitchen and walked upstairs.

* * *

She sat in the dark for a long, long time, unable to sleep. All she could do was peer from her window out into the menacing forest. 

She tried desperately shut out her mind to the memories. They were all so clear and real. Not like those of a dream where you were uncertain of the details, and that was what really scared her. She shut her eyes to convince herself that Sokka was right. That what had happened to her tonight was nothing more than a bad fall, a bad headache, a bad nightmare.

As every scene played back to her in slow motion, she covered her face with her hands and tired to resist the emotions that accompanied them, but the dream…Zuko's face…refused to go away.

Katara rubbed a hand across her eyes, smelling the sweet lingering scent of bath powder. The shower she had taken had washed away all the dirt and blood, but not the sensation of Zuko's hand caressing her body. She could still feel his touch upon her bare skin…the heat of his lips.

Katara shivered and pulled her robe tight around her.

_A ghost_, Sokka had suggested. _Zuko…a ghost._

She'd never believed in ghosts before, never thought much about them at all.

And she'd certainly never expected to fall in love with one.

* * *

Sorry folks if that was too fast. But it really starts up better in the next chapter…

Chapter 3 Unwanted Answers


	4. Chapter 4 Unwanted Answers

Hey! Thanks to my readers so far for enjoying this story. It's going to be pretty fun in the next couple of chapters so stick with me and keep going! Plus this is really different and it's supposed to be a mystery/romance/suspense. Lol enjoy!

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**Chapter4 Unwanted Answers**

"So what did you do?" Yue demanded. She pushed her way in as Katara opened the front door, and she looked very, very suspicious.

"Hello to you too." Katara yawned. "What time is it?"

Yue used her no nonsense voice. "You know I'm never out of bed before noon on the weekends. So did you pay him, or sell your soul to the devil or what?"

"What are you talking about?" Katara tried to focus. She hadn't fallen asleep until four this morning. She hadn't roused again until Yue's consistent knocking had gotten very annoying. Her eyes were swollen and blurry from lack of sleep and her brain felt like jelly.

"Hey," Yue was looking more suspicious than ever, "Are you okay? You look like hell."

This time Katara managed a slight nod. "Yeah, that about describes it all right."

"So what's up? I've been banging on the door for nearly 10 minutes. Where's your mom?"

"Working an extra shift at the hospital today why?"

Yue crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Because something's weird around here this morning."

"It's always weird around here. What makes this morning any different?"

"Come on!" Yue wailed impatiently. "Stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

"But I really don't – " abruptly Katara broke off.

As she started at her best friend, a jumble of memories began sorting themselves in her foggy brain_. The forest…last night's fall…Zuko…school dance…_ She closed her eyes, pressed one hand on her temples and tired again.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

This time Yue didn't look quite as suspicious. "Really?"

"Yue, come on. I'm too tired to play twenty questions." Katara yawned again and poured a cup of coffee. Yue grabbed some cookies from a bin and sat down across from Katara, watching her.

"Sokka called me this morning." She began.

Katara raised an eyebrow as the cup paused halfway to her lips. "Called you what?"

"I'm serious! Sokka called me this morning and asked me to the school dance."

It was easy to look shocked, Katara realized. She already felt so dazed from last night, she was sure that it came off as genuine. "Sokka called you. For a _date_?"

"I know, I couldn't believe it either." Yue leaned across the table and put her hand on Katara's. Her voice lowered. "It's all too sudden. What do you think he's up to?"

Katara took a sip of her coffee and closely studied her friend.

On the outside, Yue was making an extraordinary effort to appear nonchalant, but her sparkling blue eyes were glowing with excitement. Katara swallowed a sick taste of guilt and reminded herself that her intentions were noble.

"I've no idea, Yue." Katara squeezed her hand. "Maybe – for once – he's not up to anything. Wow…that's really…how do you feel about it?"

"Well, you know. I mean I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings or anything by turning him down."

"Of course not," Katara quickly agreed. She could see Yue eyeing the kitchen doorway, and she turned a little in her seat.

"Is he here?" Yue whispered.

"I don't know. I just woke up and didn't check. _Sokka_!" Katara turned her head and shouted towards the hall, but got no answer.

Yue pulled at Katara's hand, "Shh! No don't call him down!"

"Why not? I thought you wanted to see –"

"No I don't. I just wanted to know what's going on. If he's temporarily lost his mind, or made some stupid bet with his friends. I don't want to end up being some big joke."

Katara took a long sip of her coffee. "Well you were sure that it was Sokka?"

"I'm sure; I'd recognize his voice anywhere. First he insulted me like usual, and then he said he didn't have a date for the dance and if I wanted to go."

"Sounds…romantic."

Yue peered earnestly into Katara's face. "You mean you really didn't know? Being your brother I thought he would have told you."

"Yue, you know Sokka wouldn't have told me anything _that_ personal."

Katara's brain was feeling thicker than ever and she was beginning to wish that Yue had never come over. Tactfully she said, "Yue, if you don't want to go with him, then don't. It's not like you have to – "

"No, no." Yue said quickly. _A little too quickly_, Katara thought. "And don't tease him," Yue added seriously. "If you tease him about it, then he'll be self-conscious and if he stands me up everyone will find out and laugh at me. And then I'll have to kill myself."

"Okay, I swear." Katara promised. "But only because I don't want your suicide on my conscience."

Yue bounced in her chair. She looked relieved and immensely happy.

"Ok, great. Now that I have a date, I need to go hopping for shoes to match my dress. You're coming, right?"

For a second, Katara was blank. "Umm… I can't today."

"How come?" Yue pouted.

"I…uh…have to go to the library!"

Yue lifted an incredulous eyebrow. "You _do_ realize this is Saturday?"

"It's just that I have this…this research project coming up," Katara babbled, "I need to get some information on it by Monday and I haven't started on it yet."

To her relief, Yue didn't ask what class the 'forgotten project' was for. She only said again, "But it's Saturday."

"I know," Katara tired to sound regretful. "But I've put it off for as long as I can and if I don't get it done today, I'll be in a panic."

"As usual. And you'll probably get an A on it too."

Katara laughed as Yue put on her jacket. They walked out together towards the driveway to Yue's car.

"Will you be home later Kat?"

"Sure."

"Great. I'll call you and maybe get together when you're feeling better."

Katara nodded as Yue got into the driver's seat of her Mercedes and sped off.

"Yeah, maybe."

* * *

With an effort, Katara pulled herself together and hurried upstairs to Sokka's room. The music was deafening. Ignoring the keep out sign on his closed door, Katara pounded on it and yelled Sokka's name. When he didn't answer, Katara barged in uninvited and promptly tripped over a guitar lying just inside the doorway. 

Sokka was barely visible and was sprawled flat across his unmade bed with his headphones on.

"Excuse me, but aren't you in the wrong room?" he asked coolly. Katara ignored him.

"Where'd you put the ring?"

"I thought that you never wanted to see it again."

"I changed my mind." Determinedly, she turned on his bedside lamp. "Where'd you put it?"

Sokka jerked his chin in the direction of his desk. "Over there."

At once Katara went over and began pulling out drawers, rummaging through them with a vengeance. Sokka let out a help and practically leapt across the room.

"Just what do you think you're doing? Get outta there!"

"Just tell me where it – "

"_I'll_ get it!"

As Sokka pulled her away, the drawer suddenly popped out, spraying its contents all over the floor. Surprised, Katara stared at the mess. Sokka groaned and immediately dropped to his knees trying to shovel everything back into a pile.

"Sorry…" But as she sat up straighter, she noticed what looked like a photograph lying beneath one corner of the bed, and she stretched over to grab it.

"Hey, what's this?" She asked.

Sokka didn't hear her at first. He was too busy grumbling and throwing stuff back into the drawer.

Katara felt a smile spread over her lips. "Hey Sokka," he said again. "What's this picture doing in the drawer?"

This time he heard her. In fact, Katara could see the telltale rise of color in his cheeks before he even fully face her. Katara's smile widened. She was staring down at a photo of Yue, one she remembered having taken at the beach last summer. Yue in her two-piece suit which left little to the imagination – Yue with her golden tan, flowing hair and model-perfect smile.

Katara held it up with a tantalizing wave but Sokka snatched it from her hand.

"So what's this doing here Sokka?"

He had a funny, helpless look of desperation – like a part of him wanted to slug her and the other part simply wanted to drop off the face of the earth. Just as Katara thought he would, he shook his head and tossed it back to her.

"I don't know how this got in there."

He was trying to hard to be cool and casual, but his cheeks flushed hotter. Katara fixed him with a level star. "How long have you had a crush on Yue?"

"You're delusional." Sokka said, picking up his headphones. "I haven't looked in that drawer for months. So next time you try to plant something in my room, make sure you put it where I'll actually see it."

Katara nodded in mock seriousness. "Oh I get it. _I'm_ the one who put it there."

"You or Yue." Sokka said innocently. "God when are you two gonna grow up?"

Sokka tossed the ring he had found at her before clamping on his headphones smugly in place and turning his back to her.

After a moment's indecision, she decided to spare his pride and stop teasing him. Katara watched her brother for a moment, then slipped the photo back into the bottom drawer beneath the crumpled papers.

She went back into her room to get her favorite winter coat. Before she left, she caught her reflection in the mirror and frowned, she put a cautious hand to the glass, wondering why the person looking back at her seemed like someone she didn't know.

Very slowly, she slipped the ring on her finger.

Was it only her imagination? Or had her reflection wavered just then, ever so slightly, as thought the Katara she recognized was trying to fade away?

* * *

Aunt Wu's house was surrounded by a lot of trees. In fact, the house itself was nearly invisible beneath gnarled, twisted oaks, elms, and brown cascades of brittle ivy. Katara carefully climbed over the forest mess and walked towards the opening that served as the door. 

Before Katara could reach for the knocker, the door swung open and there stood Aunt Wu, dressed in golden colored robes and her graying hair in an elegant bun.

"Welcome my child, it has been so long! But I knew you would visit today. Plus I could hear you struggling with the fallen trees out here."

Katara blushed. "Yeah they were always difficult to climb over."

"Well come in! Would like some tea? It'll be no trouble. I just put some water to boil on the stove."

"Yes please."

Aunt Wu walked towards the direction of her small kitchen as Katara walked into the tearoom. The house wasn't at all what anyone would have expected; judging from its outside appearance.

Cluttered and cozy, overflowing with paintings and framed photographs, chintz-covered furniture and the smell of baked bread, the small house seemed to wrap welcome arms around Katara. She quickly sat down as Aunt Wu returned with a plateful of cookies and a pot of tea on a tray. After pouring both China sups with steaming green tea, Aunt Wu spoke.

"So Katara, what is your purpose of visiting me today?"

"Well…" Truthfully, Katara hadn't thought about what to tell Aunt Wu. Where would she begin?

Aunt Wu fixed Katara with a stare. "Something is troubling you. Something that you can't explain."

"Yes, I had a dream…almost a vision of the past…" Once Katara had started, the story was soon easily told. She told Aunt Wu everything, about the fall, the figure whom she had so quickly recognized, their love relationship, the ring. As Katara described it, Aunt Wu suddenly stopped her and anxiously leaned forward.

"A ruby flame centered in a golden band did you say?"

Katara slowly nodded with a slight frown. "Aunt Wu, do you know of it? I have it here if you want to look, on my finger."

When Katara slid it off her finger and held it up, there was a sharp intake of breath as Aunt Wu reached for it with shacking fingers.

"Oh my child! Where on earth did you get this?"

"I told you, when I woke up after Zuko had given it to me, itwas still on my finger." Katara smiled lightly. "Our bond of love."

Aunt Wu looked at her with a strange look on her face. "Their, you mean." She corrected.

"Oh! Yeah, did I say our? I meant there…"

Aunt Wu nodded but said nothing about it. She instead held the ring back to Katara. "Do you remember me telling you about the great Avatar Aang?"

"Yes I do. It was one of my favorite stoires" Katara quickly slipped the ring back onto her finger, "why?"

"Well," Aunt Wu began slowly, "One of Avatar Aang's female companions was named Katara. The name could just be a coincidence for you, but the ring…Prince Zuko gave Katara that ring to her after joining the avatar and falling in love with her." Aunt Wu looked at Katara and spoke the next words hesitantly. "The night he gave her that ring…a terrible tragedy occurred. No one knew what really happened."

She let that statement sink in a bit before asking: "When did you wake up?"

"Right after Zuko gave me this ring."

"I see."

Aunt Wu furrowed her brow. She began to mutter words under her breath. "yes, maybe…again…yes experience…"

Katara strained to hear her words but couldn't make any sense out of it.

"What – "

"Go back."

Katara flinched at Aunt Wu's sudden interruption. "Huh?"

"Listen to me Katara," Aunt Wu said anxiously, " You must go back and experience what happened next. Find out about what happened afterwards and then many things will become clearer to me. Then I will explain everything. Go before it gets too late."

"You want me to dream it again? Aunt Wu, this is crazy." She leaned forward in her seat, "I don't even remeber the exact spot."

"You will know what to do."

"But…" Katara couldn't find a way out. Aunt Wu's pleading face destroyed any feelings of rejection she had in mind. It all seemed so, truthfully, stupid. The avatar wasn't even real in her opinion. This was all just one big misunderstanding and Aunt Wu was making too big of a deal out of it. _But it couldn't hurt to try…_

"All right, fine. I'll go."

The small room was bathed in a shimmering gold from the rays of the setting sun. Night was coming.

"Then go now." She urged.

Katara put down her now cold tea and slowly got up.

"Come back afterwards."

"I…Not today. It'll be too late and probably nothing will happen –"

"Just promise you'll come back soon."

Katara nodded, "Fine."

And with that, she ran out of the room and nearly tripped over the tangled mess of limbs in front of the house. She frantically climbed over them and began running the opposite direction of Aunt Wu's house. She wanted to get out of there. Aunt Wu had been so…_creepy_ back there. It had scared her.

She ran, her feet taking her great lengths across the forest floor, until her breath was coming out in short, labored breaths. Katara thought that she would drop down from exhaustion, but she soon came to a clearing with a very familiar air about it. The way the trees stood, the high branches and roots. Then it hit her. _This is it…_

After a moment's hesitation, she stepped cautiously across to the pale, leafless tree she remembered seeing before her last fall. The sun was almost gone and the sounds of any animals now extinct. It was so cold that her heavy breaths were a constant hanging fog in front of her.

Katara could feel goose bumps along her arms… shivers down her spine. She sat down against it and felt the coolness of its smooth bark. Her eyes fluttered closed and her breath evened out. A cold sweat had started on her brow and blood was pumping throughout her.

When she opened her eyes, he hasn't realized that she had fallen asleep, for it was pitch black except for the glowing rays of silver moonlight. She had only meant to sit down for a short rest, how long had it been since she had been sitting here?

She turned slowly to get up when her gaze riveted to one spot in the corner. A corner much darker than the others, a thing even more frightening – awareness, something human, something alive –

Katara's heart leaped.

The darkness was moving now – pulling itself away from the other surrounding shadows, coming away from the trees and towards the very spot where she was standing.

There was purpose to its movement.

There was familiarity.

As a cry caught in Katara's throat, she saw the face at last, the golden eyes, the arms reaching out to her.

"Katara," he said, "You've awakened."

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Thank you for reading! Now, what do you think? I hope it didn't move too quickly...I think it did


	5. Chapter 5 Water and Fire Parted

This chapter will be dedicated to everyone who reviewed to chapter 4. It's also going to contain my first fighting scene, so please don't be too hard on me if it doesn't live up to your expectations. It's not the greatest ...Educated flames are wanted! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Uhh…Do I have to do this every chapter? I don't wish own Avatar: the Last Airbender

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Chapter 5 Fire and Water Parted

She loved the smell of him.

The raw, earthy smell of him as she pressed her face to his chest, a man comfortable with who he was and would always be.

Katara buried her face against his neck and breathed deeply. She loved the feeling of his hand stroking the back of her hair, his body pressed hard against hers. She could feel the racing of his heart, matching her own wild rhythm. She smiled and pulled him closer.

Very gently, he slid his fingers beneath her chin. He tilted her head upwards and gazed into her deep eyes. She saw love there, the pure absolute love there, and it made her want to cry, such a perfect reflection of the love she felt for him.

He lowered his head until his lips were lightly brushing hers. He pulled back after a while and gave her a smile that melted her within.

"May I have this dance?" he asked. His voice was deep and sure of itself. He stood up and made a mocking bow, and she pulled back horrified.

"We can't risk losing our senses! Aang and Sokka will be back any moment now and we don't even know where Zula and her men are at…"

"Don't worry," Zuko assured her. "We're going to be able to hear that giant bison groaning from miles away, and Zula's soldiers can't move very quietly in their armor. I won't let my guard down, but we have time, and it would be a sin to waste it. Come on Katara, dance with me."

Before Katara could protest, he led her in a dizzying waltz, around and around, passing their scattered sleeping bags, around the campfire, till she was laughing and out of breath. The glow of low embers from the dying fire softened the dark austerity of the forest – the hard trees, stiff bushes, the dark ambience.

A nightingale sang out in the night, but Zuko's voice drowned it out as he hummed their own tune, swooping and dipping and gliding, laughing at Katara's happiness, dancing faster and faster, till both collapsed in a heap before the low campfire.

For a long and quiet moment, they simply lay there, side by side, trying to catch their breaths. There was no music now, except for the night's natural sounds and the soft hiss of falling ash and the crackling of flames.

Katara turned her head to look at Zuko. His face was only inches from hers and his amber eyes seemed to draw her into his very soul.

Very slowly, he raised himself to one elbow.

With his free had, he took the blue strip of cloth that kept up Katara's braid and bun. Her brown hair fell in curling cascades around her face and shoulders. Katara was glad that she had brushed it this morning, so that it wasn't just a tangled mess but long and smooth. Her shimmering blue eyes were a beautiful contrast to her numerously brown colored hair. Red lips lightly parted, she let out a low, shaky breath.

Zuko reached up with hesitantly slow movements and ran his hand over one side of her face, pulling back lengths of hair and holding on to the back of her head. Katara quickly reached up and grabbed Zuko's wrist as he bent down towards her, never breaking eye contact.

As his lips touched hers, he tilted his head up and caught her upper lip. Katara moaned as she softly kissed back, both their movements light and clinging. Their lips parted as Katara looked down with an unbelieving face.

"I love you." She whispered. She let out a short sigh and shook her head, "Zuko, I love you so much."

It was an unbearable ache inside her. As Zuko's body shifted, his hands caught each side of her face and he kissed her more deeply this time, desperately, his lips melting into hers. She could feel the passion; it was more intense with every second, over her eyelids, her cheeks, tracing a pathway down her neck, burning her soft bare skin.

"I-I…love you to." Zuko's voice was husky with emotion and she clasped her arms tightly around his neck and drew his even closer.

Suddenly, somewhere far in the distance, yet alarmingly close – _too close! _– came the sound of the growling bison and voices of shouting.

Katara's face snapped towards the direction of the sound as Zuko sat up. They quickly pulled each other up and listened closely. There it was again! The low growl of the bison giving out his warning. Then without mistake they knew that they had to run as soon as Aang and Sokka reached them. Zula had once again tracked them down.

"Hurry Zuko, get the bags!" Katara ran off and started to pack her items. Zuko followed in haste as he knelt down besides her and began packing the few meager items they had.

"Your brother and Aang could have just walked to the village for the supplies you know, the giant bison was too big of an attraction to avoid!"

Katara furiously looked up at Zuko and stood up with her bags. "Don't go blaming it on them again!" Suddenly, her face fell and she looked away, sighing.

Zuko rubbed his face. "I'm sorry, I'm not blaming anyone. I'm just so irritated that Zula was able to find us again."

Then a rush of wind engulfed the two teenagers as Appa landed in the center of the camp, with two very out-of-breath boys in its saddle. Aang air-bended down with his staff towards Zuko and Katara and started grabbing the bags from their hands.

"Come on you guys, Zula and her soldiers cornered us at the market and followed us when they spotted Appa. They'll be here any minute!"

"Alright let me just get my– "

But before Katara could say what she needed, she caught a glimpse of a shadow near the edge of the clearing. She couldn't see the person's face, but she had a horrified feeling of recognition – Zula.

_How was she able to catch up with Aang and Sokka so fast? _Katara wondered.

Zula was silhouetted there in the shadows – it seemed like she had been standing there a while. The woman she most feared and hated in the world. She was in what looked like armor for royalty, adorned with easy to take off plates and pants that were like the training bottoms that Zuko had on.

She menacingly walked into the moonlight and gave everyone a sinister grin.

"I just keep running into you guys huh?"

Katara could literally feel the atmosphere going cold and Zuko's whole body tensing up beside her. Aang raised his staff in front of him as Sokka simultaneously slide out his boomerang. Zuko and Katara both got into fighting stances. They knew that Zula wasn't alone, and now they were found again, they would have to fight their way out to escape. Fire licked up at Zuko's flaming arms as Katara readied her ball of water from her water skin bag.

Zula's grin just widened at them as she lighted a flame in her palm, and with the rustling of leaves and bushes, an army of firebenders walked out into the clearing, surrounding them and prepared to attack at Zula's order. Zuko looked around himself to notice that there were about thirty or forty fire soldiers. With a sinking feeling, he realized that they were outnumbered almost 10 to 1.

"Well hello Zuko, Avatar…water peasants." She nodded to each person after saying their name.

Sokka's scowl deepened and gripped his boomerang tighter. He stepped forward when a hand reached out to stop him.

"Sokka," Aang whispered, "Don't let her get to your head. No offense, but you're no match against her."

Zula appeared to have heard Aang, for she retorted, "And not anyone else for that matter."

This time she was ignored as the four friends turned so that they were all facing out with no ones back exposed to the firebenders. They held their ground.

"Well then, I take it that you're going to fight instead of coming quietly?"

Aang made the first move. With a loud battle cry, he spun around with his staff and let out a gust of wind towards Zula. The sudden attack caught her undetected, but she let out a stream of fire in front of her, deflecting most of the air upwards. But the force of another air current soon following the first one threw Zula back hard onto a tree.

She quickly got up with a furious smirk, her hair a bit askew. "All right then. Let's play hard!"

She shot a series of fire streams and balls at the foursome. At that, her fire soldiers attacked.

Aang was able to block most of the fireballs, but some passed him and reached the dry leaves of trees behind him, instantly catching on fire. Katara gasped and quickly tried to put the fire out, which was spreading around them until they were trapped in a fiery inferno.

……

Zula stood where she had last gotten up, watching the chaotic fight. To observe… she knew that she should never underestimate anyone, and especially the Avatar, even though he was still just a kid.

She noticed that the Avatar had now mastered Water and a few basics Earthbending moves. He was still weak in the area of attacking and bringing down his enemies. He would just dodge and send wind to blast them away. No serious damage. The Water tribe girl was a master waterbender, she could tell by her movements and complex stances, taking down many of the soldiers at a time. The boy was just as weak, but could say in the fight while defending himself. No doubt Zuko had helped him train up.

_Zuko_…

She glared at her brother and growled. She didn't understand how pathetic and stubborn he could be. The Fire Lord had sent her to finish his unaccomplished task. Because of his weak heart, he had betrayed his own Nation and had planned to help in defeating it! No, she would capture the Avatar, and deal with Zuko.

And she planned to get him out of her way, once and for all.

……

Katara hardened her ball of water into ice and viciously threw it at soldiers now surrounding Aang.

_How many soldiers are there?_ She furiously thought. _There's 5 new soldiers to replace every one I take down. There must be more coming from seeing the smoke…We'll never get out alive here…Aang…_

Sokka was helping Katara, back to back, from riding of the soldiers that were ganging up on Aang and Zuko. Throwing his boomerang into the air while knocking others down with his club while he waited for it to come back.

Aang and Zuko, they had noticed, made an excellent team together. They fought back with equal ferocity as all of the soldiers fighting put together. They weaved and jumped around each other, Zuko using his Dao Blades and firebending, Aang his air and water bending. Something seemed to have possessed them, maybe the thrill of war, for they didn't seem to tire and Aang seemed to have become quite a warrior.

But a sudden blast of fire in the air interrupted the duo's fighting dance and caused Zuko to stumble back. He looked up to see his sister in a fighting stance, facing him. She raised her arms and put them down again. At the signal, the soldiers ceased from attacking Zuko and went after Aang.

Katara gasped as she saw what was about to take place.

An Agni Kai between sister and brother. The Rrince and Princess of the Fire Nation.

Zuko commanded fire similar to Katara's water ball and he shot it at Zula, a streak of fire from a kick following close behind his first attack. He knew that he was dealing with a master fire bender, despite the fact that Zula was his younger sister. He knew that he would have to use all of his concentration and determination to get out of this fight alive. Zula would show no mercy.

Zula blocked the first attacks easily and sent spinning and very powerful blasts of her own, but not her strongest. She decided that she would have a little fun and teasing before ending his pitiful life. He was no match for her, and everyone knew that. But this wasn't about the strength and skill. It was about who would win and survive this night. It was about their honor and dignity.

Streams of fire shot out of Zula's fists and kicks so rapidly that Zuko could hardly return the attacks. He slowly began to back away, as his arms grew tired and heavy from their battle. His breath came out in labored gasps. He lowered down to the ground and sneaked a fire blast under Zula and toward her unprotected feet.

She was caught off-guard and jumped to prevent the worst of the fire from burning her, but her moments hesitation was all that Zuko needed. Zuko suddenly began taking advantage of Zula's fall as he spread fire on the ground, reaching for Zula as he shot other fiery attacks overhead. Zula was thrown back and instead of running to finish her off, Zuko ran towards Katara.

"Go Katara," Zuko commanded shoving her roughly up Appa's tail, "Go and don't look back!"

Katara called to Sokka and Aang, who both gave out their last attacks to earn enough time to get to Appa.

Then everything happened too fast.

In the wildly flickering shadows, Katara saw Zula on her knees, still down from the close defeat. Then she suddenly lunged forward again, hurling something through the air.

"Zuko!"

But it was too late. She heard a cry of pain and surprised through the air and as she looked around, she saw Zuko staggering backwards, his eyes wide, his hands clutching athis ownbroadsword embedded in his ribs.

"_No_!" She screamed, "Zuko no!"

Appa growled at that moment, getting ready tofly.

"Sokka…" she cried.

Sokka and Aang were just as shocked at the scene as everyone else was. Zula, the Princess of the Fire Nation, had dared gone against the rules of Agni Kai and had used a weapon to end the duel.

Katara turned around and gave her brother a tear-stained smile at Sokka, sobbing slightly.

"I'm sorry…help Aang!"

Sokka suddenly realized her intentions and quickly scrambled towards her, "Katara…don't!"

But before he could reach her, she jumped off Appa's saddle. She dropped to the ground and cried, "Yip, yip!"

……

Aang turned the bison around after hearing Sokka's heart-wrenching cry. And saw that Katara was missing.

"Sokka! Where's Katara?"

"She jumped off Aang!" he cried, clearly devastated.

Aang frantically pulled at Appa's reins and sped towards the fire, but there was no sign of opening to land near it. It had spread quickly and it looked like the entire forest would be soon nothing but ashes. From up in the sky, the fire was a bright, burning bulb of light in the cold night.

Aang turned his head down as silent tears slid down his face. _She was gone…_

Sokka clutched his hands tight together as he told the confused Aang to turn around and get away as far as possible. Mostly it was because there was no hope now, because he wanted to get away from the terrible place. But also because he was keeping a last promise to Katara. One that he had foolishly made without thinking a long time ago.

"_Whatever happens to me or Zuko Sokka, I want you to promise me that you would never turn back and take care of Aang, all right?"_

"_What are you talking about Katara?"_

"_I'm just saying, you know with Zula always on our trail. I don't think that things will always be as safe as they used to be and one day, something might happen to me. Promise me that you wouldn't act stupidly by putting yourself and Aang's life in danger to come back and save Zuko, or me okay?"_

"_Katara, of course I'd come and save you, no questions asked."_

"_No Sokka. Promise me that you wouldn't turn around and come back for me."_

_Sokka sighed and shook his head, "All right Katara, whatever you want…hey is dinner ready yet? I'm starving!"_

It would be impossible finding her down there now, but at least she had gotten her last wish. Sokka closed his eyes, and put his head down on his knees, lost in never-ending sorrow and regret.

……

The impact of the high fall knocked all of the breath out of her tired body. Roaring flames burned dangerously close around her as she breathed hard, trying desperately to find Zuko before… she didn't want to say what.

She drew back her tangled hair, matted with sweat and the searing heat of the closing fire. The smoke from the fire was covering up her vision, restricting her sight. Suddenly a sharp pain erupted at her side as blood pumped to the area. She turned over and saw Zula standing above her, poised to finish her off.

"I could never understand what my brother saw in you. Pity he's not here to watch me kill you."

Katara knew that it was over. She had no water with her, she had left her waterskin bag on Appa's saddle. She closed her eyes and waited for her end. She just wished that she would see Zuko again one day, her brother, Aang, Gran-Gran, father…

A shriek filled Katara's ears and when she opened her eyes, Zula was engulfed in a large flame. She fell away as she writhed in pain, burns covering her body before Katara's eyes.

"Zuko!" she cried, "Where are you?"

He had just saved her life she knew, and now she had to find and save him.

Coughing and choking, she tried to find Zuko.

Already the air was swirling with sparks and flying ash; the forest was a tinderbox, collapsing around her. The smoke was so thick she could hardly see, could hardly breathe. She dropped to her knees and started to crawl while groping blindly.

"Zuko," she sobbed, "Zuko…no! Not like this…"

But no one answered.

Katara paused, gasping for breath. She tried to create some water from the air, but everything was dried up and arid from the fire. Nothing. Her throat felt raw and swollen; her body was heavy and her head curiously light. She thought she heard her name being called.

With a surge of hope, she followed the sound, dragging herself on her elbows. Blindly she crawled her way to a fallen figure that hadn't been eaten up by the flames yet. Suddenly she realized that it was Zuko sprawled on his back against a tree.

The sword was gone. Somehow he'd managed to wrench it free, but Katara could see his shirt soaked with blood. The flames where closing in relentlessly now. She could smell the burnt fabric of her dress, her scorched hair…

"I'm here Zuko," she whispered, "Can you hear me? I'm here…I'm here…"

She knew she was losing consciousness. With one last effort she knelt beside him, cradling his head in her arms, desperately searching his eyes for some sign of recognition. His gaze was hazy and unfocused, yet slowly it fixed upon her face, and for one brief instant Katara thought he might have smiled.

"I'm here," she said again, but there was a deafening crash, a blistering surge of heat billowing over her in suffocating waves.

Katara pressed her face against Zuko's chest.

And then she turned her head, breathing deeply of the thick, black smoke, praying to die before she felt the flames.

* * *

Waits anxiously So…how was it? Not too bad I hope? 

Chapter 6: Recovery will be sort of a calm and explanation chapter, with some Sokka and Yue moments (Back in modern times). See ya all there? Thank you for reading and hopefully reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6 Recovery

Remember that this story takes place in the modern times. What happened last chapter was a freakishly realistic dream of the past that Katara had. You'll see what happened to them later on…

And sorry for the late update, WASAL week just finished up and I finally solved the problem to the document loading!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own avatar… too brilliant to be even my idea

Recap: Katara had fallen over again when she woke up to Zuko's arms once more. But before Katara woke up to recover from the fall, she experienced a dream again, one which has brought her even deeper into a mess of things…

Chapter 6 Recovery and Aunt Wu's regretful Explanation

"_Katara…"_

From some faraway distance Sokka thought he heard a voice.

Frowning, he sat up from his tack of pillows and lifted one side of his headphones. The volume was so loud, his head felt as if it might come right off – but how else was he supposed to deal with his crazy sister?

He'd stood at his bedroom window earlier and watched Katara leave, watched her climb the logs and go off alone to Aunt Wu's house. He'd made up his mind he wasn't going to help her this time, no matter what happened. He couldn't believe how obsessed she was getting with this stupid dream of hers.

Sokka scowled and clamped his headphones back in place. Slouching down on the corner of his bed, he closed his eyes and drummed his hands on his knees in time to the music.

"_Katara…"_

He bolted upright, his scowl deepening. There it was again, that voice, only it sounded more insistent this time. _Jeez, I'm I going crazy too?_ After all, he and Katara had shared everything else throughout their lives – flu, poison ivy, chicken pox, even pneumonia once. _So why not insanity too?_ Sokka wondered wryly.

He switched off the music. He flung his headphones onto his messy desk and listened, but the house was eerily silent.

"Mom?" he called softly. She'd been asleep in her room when they'd gotten home, but maybe she'd set her alarm early for some reason. Tiptoeing down the hall, he cracked open her door and peeked in. "Mom?"

His mother didn't move. Sokka stood there and watched her for several minutes, then quietly pulled her door shut. _I'm losing it._ He ran both hands back through his hair and gave a loud groan. _Great. Whatever Katara's got, she infected me with it._

He felt restless and uneasy. He wandered back to his room and paused beside his desk. Very slowly, methodically, he concentrated on clearing his mind. Thought by thought…worry by worry…He pictured it like a calm deep pool…

Then he decided to take a shower. He stood for a long time, letting the hot water run over him, soothing his tension away. He soaped up his face and his neck and shoulders, tilting his head into the hard spray. Lightness and a warm pit in his stomach slowly spread through him, flowing along his veins. He felt like he'd detached himself.

Sokka frowned as he washed soap out of his eyes. What was I thinking about? He couldn't recall any specific thoughts just now – certainly not anything sinister – though he couldn't be sure. All he knew was that those earlier feelings of uneasiness had returned, like some unspoken warning.

"_Katara…"_

Quickly, he turned off the water. He stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist, then wiped both hands across the mirror over the sink. He looked like a pale apparition of himself, a ghost.

Sighing, he turned around and jerked the bathroom door open. Someone was standing there.

With a yelp Sokka jumped back as Yue stared at him with shocked eyes.

The moment seemed to stretch to eternity. Sokka's grip on his towel tightened. Yue's glance swept him from head to toe. He could feel his face flaming beet red, and looked at his mother's door, expecting her to wake up and walk out.

"Oh…I…" Yue motioned awkwardly toward the staircase. "The house was open. I just…I was…" her eyes swept him again, more deliberate this time. "Was you know, looking for Katara…"

Her voice trailed off. A smile played over her mouth, and her gaze focused back on his.

Sokka's flush deepened. His whole body felt hot. He pulled himself together with all the dignity and sarcasm he could muster.

"Oh. Sorry." He deadpanned, keeping his voice low. "She was abducted by aliens."

"Well, when will she be back?"

"Jeez, Yue," muttering, Sokka shoved past her into his room. "Do I look like her personal secretary?"

"You look like something." Yue teased. "But definitely not a personal secretary."

Sokka was still grumbling, digging through drawers for his clothes. He could still feel Yue watching him. He turned to face her and spread his arms wide. "See anything you like?"

"Forget it. I don't even like anything I see." She moved towards the stairs and added, "Maybe I'll wait for Katara to get back."

"Whatever," Sokka started to shut his door when a sudden thought came to him. "Yue!"

She paused on the top step. "What?"

"Were you calling her name when you came in?"

Yue shook her head. "No. I figured your mom would be sleeping, so I just came on up here, why?"

"No reason."

But as Yue walked away, she could see a worried and almost frightened expression spread across Sokka's face.

……

"_No!" _

Katara suddenly sat up screaming into the silence of the forest. It was still dark but the brilliance of the full moon cut through the darkness and gave light to the small clearing. Shivering, Katara sat up and raised a hand to her head, slightly dizzy. Then she noticed a glint of red from the flame ruby and quickly threw her hand back down beside her.

What had happened? Why was she in the forest? She looked up and breathed quietly for a while. Katara felt strangely stronger and comforted looking up at the moon, a sense of familiarity…

_Well_, she decided, _I'm going to go back to Aunt Wu's. Go back and ask questions until she'll have to throw me out. I want answers._

Katara got up shakily and she was suddenly surrounded by a scream piercing the air, thick smoke circled around her as she felt extreme heat from the fire flames licking at her legs. She spun around to see herself and a stranger – Zuko! – lying near dead against the roots of the trees, waiting for their death to come…

Until as soon as she had felt everything, it was gone as quick as it had come. No fire, smoke, chaos. Just the still forest. Katara shook her head slightly and her breath quickened. _What had happened_?

She remembered then.

The dancing, his kisses, the warm strong feel of him, every sight and sound, every raw emotion. _Real_. Every bit as real as standing here now, as real as the trees and the moon in the night sky.

This time, Katara carefully raised her hand outstretched in front of her to look at the ruby flame. Up until it became eye level and held her tiny gaze in the stone when she noticed a faint movement behind her in the reflection…as though a shadowy figure had appeared in the clearing.

Gasping she spun around. But the clearing was empty. There was no sound.

And still that faint wavering of shadow reflected behind her…while in the heavy silence of the forest, a deep mournful sigh seemed to echo softly from every dark corner…

"Zuko?" she whispered.

If she stared hard enough, she could almost see a face looking back at her through the gloom, a young handsome man with coal black hair and golden eyes.

And if she held her breath, if she listened closely in the eerie quiet, she could almost hear him whispering, _"Katara…Katara…please come back to me."_

……

"A-Aunt Wu? Are you home? Please answer the door, I really need to talk to you about something!"

_Where on earth could she be? _Katara wondered. Aunt Wu had never been gone out this late before. She continued banging on her door for another good 10 minutes before giving up. The lights were out and the house seemed long deserted.

Katara suddenly felt miserably lost, and she wanted answers now. Why were these stupid dreams – so realistic dreams – keep bothering her? And they were also a continuance of the dreams before. Like watching a movie a few parts at a time. That definitely wasn't normal.

She gave up and ran off towards home, hoping that everything would soon somehow clear up.

……

"Where on earth were you?" Yue demanded. "I've been waiting for nearly an hour! Sokka said you'd been abducted by aliens."

Katara stood on the back porch, gazing in through the door. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, and she gripped the doorknob with pale fingers.

"Hey," Yue got up out of the chair and approached her cautiously. "Hey Katara are you okay?"

Katara managed a nod. She willed herself to smile. "Yeah, sure. Just out of breath is all."

"Come in here! Are you crying?"

"No, silly, it's from the wind. It's getting really cold."

But Yue was staring at her, unconvinced. "You're a total mess. I don't think I've ever seen you this dirty."

Katara followed Yue's gaze down the front of her sweater, her jeans, her shoes. "Well…" she thought quickly, "I was looking for something in the garage."

Yue continued to stare. Katara fumbled with the door and pulled it shut behind her.

"The garage." Yue said.

"Yeah. Looking for something."

"All this time you've been out in the garage. And Sokka didn't know? You didn't hear me drive up?"

"Well…" Katara walked over to the sink and began washing her hands. She had her back to Yue, but she could still feel her best friend's eyes boring into her. "I guess I was just so busy, I lost track of time. You know how I get when I'm really into something – I get obsessed."

"I didn't see a light on out there," Yue persisted.

"Well, it must have burned out. I ended up using a flashlight."

"So what were you obsessing over in your garage?"

Katara's mind raced. She stalled for time. She ran the water more loudly and glanced over her shoulder.

"What?"

"I said, what were you – " Yue began, but another voice cut her off.

"Hey Kat, did you find those old magazines mom wanted?"

Both girls turned around as Sokka leaned casually from the hall. He looked as if he'd just gotten out of the shower, his hair still wet jeans zipped but not buttoned, feet bare, arms engaged in tugging a T-shirt over his head. Yue couldn't take her eyes off him.

"The magazines," Sokka repeated, frowning in Katara's direction, "did you find them?"

Surprise, Katara peered back at him. _I don't believe this – Sokka's actually covering for me?_ After a flustered second she stammered, "No…but I still have a few boxes to go through."

"I knew you wouldn't find them." Sokka grumbled.

"I…" Again Katara thought quickly, playing along with his lie. "I said that I wasn't done yet. Give me a break!"

Yue reluctantly tore her gaze away from Sokka. "Magazines? You were obsessed over some magazines?"

"She's always obsessed over something." Sokka made a noise of disgust. "Always off somewhere in her own little world."

_That little remark was certainly deliberate_, Katara thought. She gave her brother a dirty look, and he shrugged innocently and swaggered away.

Yue continued to look longingly at the doorway. When Sokka failed to reappear, she turned her attention back to Katara. "So…what do you want to do tonight?"

Katara looked at her helplessly. "Nothing." She said at last.

"Nothing?"

Again, the helpless stare. Katara's mind spun wildly, yet her face remained calm_. How can I stand here like this, like everything's so normal, when I've just been in some other place, in some other – _

"Yue, honest, I feel like I'm coming down with something. Right now I just want to go to bed."

"Well…" Yue studied her friend closely, frowning as Katara looked away. "Maybe you're right. You don't look that great at all. Though I have to say, your hair smells great. What is it?"

Katara's expression was blank. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Kind of…I don't know…" Wrinkling her nose, Yue took a deep sniff. "Earthy, natural."

"I've…I've been experimenting."

"It's great. I'll have to try it. Maybe when you feel better."

"Yeah," Katara replied relieved, "Tomorrow, probably. Tomorrow I'll probably feel better, okay?"

"Oh…alright. Call me if you need anything."

"I will."

Katara quickly ushered her friend out the door and sat down at the kitchen table, sighing. "Finally."

"Hey, that's not nice."

Katara gasped and looked up to see her brother glancing back at her, arms crossed in mock anger.

"Were you there the whole time?"

"Nah, like I'd want to hear what you girls were saying. I just remembered to tell you that Aunt Wu was here to see you. She came about an hour or so ago and I just told her to wait in your room for you."

"Aunt Wu? _Here_?"

"Yeah I was pretty freaked out too when I opened the door to see her standing in front of the door. She said that you had questions…which I thought was kind of creepy…hey, where you going?"

"I'm tired. I'm going to go and visit Aunt Wu tomorrow so I'm gonna get a good nights sleep."

"Hey wait, so you didn't take the ring from my room huh?"

Katara wearily spun around and faced her brother. "What? Yeah of course I did."

"Well it's not on your hand in case you didn't notice."

"What are you – " Katara looked down as she spoke and noticed that indeed the ruby ring wasn't on her middle finger anymore. Frantically she looked at both her hands to make sure and then quickly checked all of her pants and jacket pockets. She regretfully found it empty.

"Sokka! I must have dropped it in the clearing earlier!"http/ size=1 width=100% noshade>Hey! Umm not my favorite chapter, but read on folks! That's why I posted up two chapters this time! 

I hope that it didn't become too corny for you guys! It would help to read this really seriously or something… Ah well review please!

P.S Go to my site at http// www(dot) vsocial (dot) com / video ? d 20034

Without the spaces and the (dot) to watch "The Avatar State" That I downloaded!


	7. Chapter 7 Suggestions from Sokka

Chapter 7 Suggestions from Sokka

"Morning sunshine," Mrs. Don teased.

Katara glowered and scuffed across the kitchen floor, sniffing disinterestedly at a plate of doughnuts while she poured herself a cup of strong coffee. She took a chair opposite her mother and refocused her scowl on the newspaper lying between them.

"I hate mornings," she grumbled. "I hate Sundays. I hate knowing I have to go back to school tomorrow." She hesitated, then narrowed her eyes. "How come you're so happy?"

Mrs. Don looked amused. She rested both elbows on the table and regarded her daughter thoughtfully.

"I'm always happy when I get to spend time with my favorite daughter. And since you're in such a wonderful mood, do you have any idea where Sokka went off to?"

"Huh? You mean he was up and gone before noon? That's a first."

Mrs. Don laughed. "Well, he did say something about that backyard forest or something. To investigate and think about something."

"What!" _Sokka's probably there and nosing around there as we speak. Why?_

The sudden realization made her angry. She threw on some clothes and hurried back downstairs, ignoring her mother's bewildered stare.

"Katara – what on earth – "

"Mom, I'll be out for a while. Bye!"

She slammed the door, not giving her mother a chance to answer. _Damn it Sokka! Why do you keep interfering!_ She jumped over the logs and ran into the forest.

Sokka wasn't outside anywhere. Katara checked all around the old clearing but didn't see the faintest sign of life anywhere.

"Sokka? Sokka come out here right now!"

Her voice echoed back to her in the silence. It trembled in the air for several moments, and then it faded and died. Katara crossed her arms angrily and leaned against a nearby tree.

"Sokka you'd better come out now – I'm not in the mood for jokes!"

But her brother didn't answer. No one did. Katara felt the sudden shock of smallness and aloneness and she back slowly in the direction of her house. "Sokka?"

Her voice was softer now, not nearly as angry nor as brave. She was so sure he'd be here –yet the forest had that vast feeling of emptiness, as though no presence – not even her own – had entered here in many, many years.

A cold prickling crept along the back of her neck. Had the shadows stirred in that corner? Restless and uneasy? She heard a mournful sigh, felt a rush of cold air, as though the entire forest was settling around her.

"Zuko?" she whispered. "Is that you?"

"No," the voice answered softly. "He's not here right now – can I take a message?"

"_Sokka!"_

Furiously Katara spun around. She was shaking all over, both from rage and from fear. Shoving past Sokka, she stomped out of the clearing. She could hear him shouting at her, but she refused to listen. Only when the cell phone sailed past her shoulder did she stop and turn around.

"Nice shot!" she yelled at him. "You could have hit me you jerk!"

Sokka was lugging his heavy jacket at a leisurely pace. He shrugged off her anger and laughed.

"There are worse ways to die and death by phone, Katara. Aren't you gonna thank me for finding your ring?"

"You…"

"Yeah I especially woke up early this **Saturday** morning to find this for you." Sokka reached into his pocket and tossed it to her. Katara barely had time to see the shimmering of the golden ring before she reached out to catch it.

"Okay, now you wanna tell me what happened yesterday? You were gone all day you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Katara angrily replied.

Sokka did a mincing imitation of his sister's voice. "Zuko! Oh, Zuko my love! Come to me and we'll –"

"Shut up Sokka!"

Sokka stepped back and gave a snort. "Calm down it was only a joke."

"Not a funny one; like most of your jokes."

Sokka made a valiant effort to look solemn. "Okay, what do you want me to do? Hire a psychic? Call a priest? Have an exorcism?"

"You know, you almost had be believing you were serious about this. In case you've forgotten, two innocent people were murdered and burned to death! And one of them supposedly looked like me _and_ had my name. Call me crazy, but hey! - it _bothers_ me!"

"Okay. It bothers me too. I said it, are you happy?"

"So I was right, you are as scared as I am."

Sokka made a scrunched up face and did a wishy-washy movement with his hand. "Well, I wouldn't say _scared_ exactly. I mean scared is such a strong word. _Concerned_ it better, I'm _concerned_ but anyway, not like anything's gonna happen."

"But it was more than a dream Sokka, how many times do I have to tell you?" Katara turned around and started walking again, leaving Sokka to follow and mutter behind her."

"You look like her, you even have the same names. So what?"

"It's been five hundred years. What if a hundred years later this happens to another girl named Katara?"

"What's done is done," Sokka stated firmly. "You can't go back and change the past…you can't go back and rewrite history. And even if we did figure out what happened, it wouldn't really matter now would it?"

"I just feel so sad for Zuko and Katara. I mean their love was so deep, romantic, real. I've never known two people in love like that." A smile brushed her lips, and her voice grew soft. "I've never been loved like that before. Before now, I couldn't even imagine how it feels."

"Be fore now?" Sokka snorted. "But now you can?"

Katara froze in her tracks. A rush of color flooded her cheeks, not just from embarrassment but from the shock of unexpected desire.

"Hey, what's wrong with your face? You look like a lobster."

"Oh leave me alone." Shaking him off, Katara hurried toward the fence. She could hear him shouting after her, but she pretended not to notice. She heard the swift approach of Sokka's footsteps and he caught her by the arm just before she reached the fence.

"Wait Katara, wait."

She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to talk to anyone, but very gently Sokka turned her around.

"Look, I don't understand any of this." Sokka sighed. "But what if _I_ went back and spent the night at the clearing, see what happens."

Surprised, Katara stepped back and gave out a weak laugh. "Thanks for the suggestion though. Sokka you're as crazy as I am."

Sokka laughed and backed away a bit. "Well, do you know why he's here? I mean something must have happened for him to show up here."

"You mean except for the fact that I look just like his girlfriend, that she and I are the same age and have the same name, and that I ended up in the clearing where she and Zuko last parted?"

Sokka shook his head. "Something's missing. There's no…motive."

"Motive?"

"Well, ghosts don't just come back to be sociable, do they? I mean, don't they usually come back because they _want_ something? Or they left something unfinished?"

Katara quietly considered this. "Or they're emotionally tied to something or someone. Or they don't realize that they're dead."

"But if that were true, wouldn't he have been hanging around long before now? We've lived here for over four years. So why'd he choose this particular weekend for a surprise visit?"

"Because it's almost the 500 hundred year anniversary of our – _their_ – death."

Sokka didn't reply. His he jumped over the logs and helped Katara over also, hesitated, then leaned his hands against the bark of the fallen tree. His eyes grew pensive as he shot her a narrow glance.

"Or maybe we're overlooking the obvious," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that you – Katara – was still alive when the fire was closing in."

Katara nodded silently. Sokka's expression grew more serious.

"But Zuko – Zuko right? – had that stab wound; he'd lost a lot of blood. He was practically dead already when Katara found him."

Again, she nodded.

"Heat from that fire would've been incredible. With all of the trees, the forest would've gone up in a matter of minutes, especially because everything was dry from the summer heat. Nobody could've survived a fire like that. At least…that's what everyone would think."

Katara's eyes began to widen. "Then you're saying –"

"I'm saying, what if Katara got out alive?"

* * *

Cliffie! Sort of...Ohhh something to think about huh? Well what do you think? I've pretty much got the story line down, but any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks for reading! P.S, Katara had told Sokka of what had happened in the forest last night, I just skipped that part in the writing. K?

AU: Empress Katara will be updated soon, most likely this weekend!


	8. Chapter 8 Aunt Wu's Conculsion

"_What if Katara got out alive?"_

Chapter 8 Aunt Wu's Conclusion

Katara felt a dizzying rush of strong emotions.

As she stared at Sokka, the enormity of that long-ago tragedy seemed to hit her full force, an impact that was nearly crushing.

"But how could that be?" she whispered harshly, "I was there. I _saw_ it happen."

"You said you saw the fire coming _closer_," Sokka reminded her. "You never said that you remembered actually dying."

This was true, Katara realized. She shut her eyes against the powerful memory of smoke, flames, and motionless, near dead, body of Zuko beneath her.

"But if I did get out," she thought slowly, "then how'd it happen? And where would I have gone?"

Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "You said it was at night. And Azula was near mad that night. She probably ran like hell after the fire started, and anyway, she wouldn't have been expecting anyone to escape."

"I don't know Sokka." Katara opened her eyes once more and slowly shook her head. "This clearing was just a place I was able to randomly find. And during that fire, Katara wouldn't have had any place to hide, especially from a fire – and Katara must have hidden. Aang was still desperately looking for her, he would have found her if she had been alive."

Sokka thought for a while before shrugging his shoulders again. "Maybe Katara and Zuko had a secret place," he suggested. "Some special meeting place nobody knew about that they could somehow always meet at. Maybe Katara went there for a while, then managed to sneak away to another place."

The pair grew silent. Glancing back over his shoulder, Sokka raised his eyes to the enormous trees above him, and sadly Katara followed his gaze.

"If only the trees could talk. I bet some of them had survived the fire…if only they could tell us its deep dark secrets. Or clues could still be here."

"Not very likely after all this time." Sokka started to hoist himself up with the help of a nearby tree. "Look Katara, I really do want to help you, but – "

Abruptly, Sokka broke off. Katara saw his gaze fix upon her left hand, and she quickly tired to slip it behind her back.

"You put it back on?"

Katara shook her head. She gave the ring a nervous twist and looked the other way.

"I don't know, I don't even remember putting it back on, j-just drop it…"

"Whatever, I don't know why I even got it back for you. Jeez, Katara maybe it's just that simple. Maybe if you got rid of that stupid ring, Zuko would go back to where ever he came from."

Katara didn't answer. Again, she twisted the tiny gold band and a stab of panic went through her. _Get rid of the ring?_ Images of Zuko flooded her mind and her heart began to beat faster. _What if Sokka's right? What if I give back the ring and never see Zuko again?_

"That is what you want," Sokka reminded her firmly.

Katara's head snapped up. She started fully into Sokka's eyes.

"Kat," he repeated slowly, "That _is_ what you want, right?"

Guiltily, she managed a nod. "Sure, of course it is."

"Then give it to me."

A second, sudden stab, much worse than the first time, of despair and utter desperation ached through her. Her thoughts were one dark mess, clouding her mind, confusing her as Sokka held out his hand.

"Katara, _give_ it to me."

Unconsciously, she took a step back. She could see the surprise and then the concern on Sokka's face as she tightened her left hand into a fist.

"Sokka, can't you understand that I felt happy with this ring?"

"Come on Katara, don't act stupid."

As Sokka made a sudden grab at her arm, Katara jumped out of reach. She stumbled on some roots and nearly fell, then caught herself again, still putting distance between them.

"I can't give it back yet Sokka. I can't. Zuko _wanted_ me to have it, can't you see?"

"See what?" Sokka demanded. "Where do you think your going?"

But Katara didn't answer. She turned and she ran away and she didn't stop running until she had reached her house. Katara charged up the stairs and reached her room. Whom she saw nearly made her scream.

There was Aunt Wu, sitting comfortable on Katara's bed and drinking some strange tea as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

……

"You seemed startled when you left my house, and so I wanted to wait for your return from the forest and apologize for being so commanding…but I am afraid that I must bear you even more disturbing news."

Aunt Wu hadn't even noticed Katara's surprised gasp and had spoken as soon as Katara had entered.

Katara drew back ever so slightly. "D-disturbing news?"

"Well, to you it will be. Where to begin…" Aunt Wu looked up at Katara and stared straight into her eyes. "So…tell me the events that have occurred so far in your dreams."

There was a tense silence before Katara spoke out and began to tell Aunt Wu her story. Shaky at first, Katara kept returning back to certain times for clearer explanations. But as she kept talking, she was surprised at herself for being so open with this woman than anyone else she had been with so far. But somehow it felt almost comforting, to confide in her. But Katara decided to leave the intimate details between Zuko and Katara out.

"Katara wanted to die." She finished. "She prayed to die even before the flames could get to her. And she didn't want to live without Zuko."

"Bless them." Aunt Wu sadly lowered her eyes and closed them for a while. "Poor Zuko. Poor sweet Katara." Aunt Wu gave an apologetic smile and continued. "My dear, I believe your story, but I don't believe that Katara died in that fire."

"You…you don't?"

"Not a chance!" Aunt Wu looked at Katara as if she were a total imbecile. "And this ring you're wearing confirms it! How else could it have possibly have survived? And why else would poor Zuko keep calling for his Katara?"

"No…it couldn't have been possibly for her…the fire was spreading very fast!"

"She was a waterbender, no? I'm sure she would have found a way. She was a strong girl too I bet, being able to soften the Prince's beaten heart. If she could have somehow managed to escape, you should remember it." She looked at Katara with almost accusing eyes. "You should remember it!"

Katara's mind immediately spun back as she tried to remember the horrific scene back at the forest.

"I…I didn't," she insisted. "I didn't escape. That's what I remember."

"But you must have. Think girl! You must have found a way out at the last possible second, and you're just blocking it out."

"No, Katara was dying. There was fire all around." Katara's voice was rising. She didn't want to think about it – it hurt to go back, it was too horrible to remember. _Too painful…_

_A crash…branches falling…_

"I – she – tried to shield Daniel from the flame, and she was praying to die."

_A deafening crash, a blistering surge of heat billowing over me, suffocating waves, sparks flying…_

"If it is too painful, then you do not have to push yourself Katara. I am sorry."

Katara looked at her weakly. Beyond crashing sound and the overpowering sense of loss there was only darkness. "So what if Katara really did live, and Zuko died," she concluded softly. "That still doesn't explain why I'm involved in this thing."

"Because it has to be you dear." Aunt Wu explained patiently. "You've been separated for much too long. He misses you, and he wants to be with you again. Don't you see?"

Katara shook her head, she didn't see at all.

"You're his Katara. Zuko's Katara. And you're obviously traveled here again, all the way from your human existence nearly 500 years ago. To save Zuko from eternal misery."

"Wait." Katara raised her hands up and frowned harder than before, standing up on wobbly knees. "Wait a minute. You're saying – what are you saying?"

"Reincarnation dear. Past lives. Don't tell me you've never considered the possibility… its destiny. There's no use thinking about it, it's already preordained. You'll just have to be brave. "

"_What's_ preordained?" Katara demanded, very irritated now.

"This time when it happens – "

"_This time_! When _what_ happens? What are you talking about?"

"I'm so sorry dear, but this time I expect you'll have to join him."

Aunt Wu slowly got up and walked towards the door, speaking the next sentence so softly that Katara wished that she had misheard.

"This time I expect you'll have to die."

* * *

Hmmm...kinda rushed, don't you think? But overall I liked how it turned out 


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry the last one was a bit short, so here's a nice long one and bear with me till the end. )

_Aunt Wu slowly got up and walked towards the door, speaking the next sentence so softly that Katara wished that she had misheard._

"_This time I expect you'll have to die."_

Chapter 9 Girl Talk

Katara had a weird sensation of being out of her body. After Aunt Wu had made her dramatic exit, Katara had quickly locked her door and had fallen upon it for support.

She didn't know how long she leaned there against the door, breathing deeply. She felt dizzy and lightheaded; pounding as if her brain would explode any minute. _Crazy_! She'd heard the many rumors about Aunt Wu, but she'd downplayed most of them to mere age and eccentricity. And now to discover how right everyone had been. How totally insane Wu was –

"_This time you'll have to die."_

"Uh!" Katara groaned out loud. _Why'd I ever go there anyway? Why'd I end up there to do my homework of all places? No reason really –_

Katara pressed both hands against her ears, but her thoughts spun in all directions. She could still remember how Aunt Wu had stayed so calm during her story of the insane fire. How… _expected_ she had seemed.

_She was waiting for me_, Katara thought miserably, _She was waiting for this to happen and knew I'd come_.

"They're insane." Katara mumbled, and then frowned as a thought nagged at her. _If you really believe she's insane, then why are you getting so upset?_

_But those details, she knew more than she showed…_

"Anyone can take a dumb old legend and embellish it." Katara whispered to herself. "No, it's just stupid."

She wished Sokka were here right now. Even though she had been so angry with him before and even frightened him, he seemed to be the only one she could feel safe around.

Katara opened her door and looked anxiously down the hall. She was being foolish, she knew, but Aunt Wu's prophecy continued to haunt her and no matter how she tried to rationalize or dismiss what had happened, it only loomed larger in her mind.

The house was unnervingly quiet.

She closed her door quickly and jumped into bed. She pulled her legs up close to her chest, resting her chin upon her knees. Katara told herself how silly she was being, how glad she was now that Sokka and Aunt Wu weren't here, knowing how much they'd make her feel uncomfortable… She told herself she was safe, yet at the same time she felt herself getting up and walking to her window.

She didn't want to look.

She didn't want to look over at the forest behind her house, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

Because something wanted her to look.

Suddenly Katara felt them, in the very pit of her soul – _just like I felt it that very first night, the eerie presence, those invisible eyes watching from the trees. Forcing me to look, needing me to look…_

"What do you want from me?" She slammed down her palms flat against the windowpane, and her voice sounded like a stranger's voice, someone she didn't even recognize. "Tell me what happened that night! Tell me what to do!"

She could see that beyond the trees, ever so slightly there was a presence, a pale shadow beckoned her from the darkness beyond.

"How can I help you?" Katara cried. "Don't you understand? I'm getting so scared, and we're running out of time!"

She hit the window again out of pure frustration, the glass rattling dangerously beneath her fingers, and all her emotions were crumbling.

"No!" and again she hit the windowpane, again and again and she could hear someone screaming_, "No, no!"_ but it was as if the sound drifted to her from some other place, from some other person in some other time_…"No!"…"No!"_

"Katara?"

The familiar voice came out of nowhere, an unwelcomed intrusion into her brain. It brought her back with a shock, and as Katara spun around, she saw Yue and Sokka standing just inside the bedroom door. Both of them were staring as if she were a total lunatic.

Katara held their gaze for one endless minute. Then her anger exploded.

"What are you doing here?" she was furious and confused and terrified. She reached out for her dressing table to steady herself and her voice rose. "What are you looking at?"

"What are you looking at?" Sokka accused her. "Or better yet, who are you talking to?"

Katara stubbornly shook her head. "Nobody, nothing. Myself."

"I'm sure you've gone totally off the deep end!" Sokka yelled.

"What's –" Yue began but Sokka cut her off.

"It was _him_," he said angrily, "Wasn't it Katara?"

Yue had been glancing first at one sibling and then the other, but now her baffled gaze settled on Katara. "Him who?"

"Tell her," Sokka said unexpectedly. He ignored the venomous look his sister shot him and added, "If you don't tell her, then I will."

"Him _who_?" Yue demanded.

Biting her lip, Katara turned her back on the two of them. Resentment and frustration raged through her, she felt like she was being violated. "You have no right." She muttered.

"I have every right!" Sokka countered without hesitation. "Enough Katara! Did you hear yourself just now? Do you even realize how close you came to busting out that window? This situation's way past serious – I have every right in the world."

Despite her obvious confusion, Yue tried to be comforting. "Look Katara, Sokka's obviously just trying to help you out. When he couldn't find you, he came driving all the way to my house –"

"I don't need Sokka's help!"

"Oh, you need help all right." Sokka replied with maddening calmness. "An don't even think that I can't tell when you're deliberately blocking me away from you."

"Will someone please explain what's going on here?" Yue asked helplessly. "Have you both lost your minds?"

Sokka shook his head. "Just one of us."

"I haven't lost my mind. I can't help it if I'm the one he comes to – I can't help it if you can't see him!" Katara argued.

"Huh? See who?" Yue asked again, only now she looked around the room as if someone would jump out at any second. "Are we alone in here?"

"You know, I'm not sure anymore!" Sokka's voice dripped with sarcasm. He made sweeping gestures toward each of the four walls. "But it wouldn't surprise me if he was in the closet. Or… I don't know… under the covers, maybe."

"That's not funny Sokka," Katara said tightly.

"No Katara, it's not."

The two siblings glared daggers at each other, neither one backing down. Yue sweatdropped and then nervously cleared her throat.

"I think, I should go."

No one answered. Yue slowly backed off and reached for the door. "Okay then? Bye –"

She started to leave, but Sokka's sudden hand on her elbow caught her by surprise.

"Nobody's going anywhere until Katara does some explaining. Go on Katara. Explain."

There would be no getting out of this one, Katara could tell by the grim lines of Sokka's face and the steel in his eyes. With a sigh of defeat, she sat down at the edge of her bed.

"His name is Zuko," she said in a soft whisper. "Prince Zuko, and he…he loves me."

Yue's eyes widened, and then her face broke out into a huge grin. She thought for a minute, then shook her head in surprise. "Do I even know the guy? Does he go to our school?"

"No." Katara gazed calmly back at her. "He's dead."

….

For a long time there was nothing but silence.

Sokka stared at a spot on the ceiling, and Yue continued to watch Katara with a startled, almost comical expression. If situation hadn't been so serious, Katara would have giggled at the expression, but now wouldn't be appropriate. And then at last, cutting into the silence, Yue laughed.

"He's _dead_?" she echoed. "You're kidding right?" Nobody answered. She tried again.

"So what's the big deal? I mean, that pretty much describes half the guys at school. If you two want to play a silly joke on me, then you'll have to come up with something better that."

The silence had grown uncomfortable now. Katara's gaze fell to the floor as Sokka sifted positions, crossing his arms over his chest. As Yue looked from one of them to the other, her smile slowly began to fade.

"You're…serious?"

They nodded in union, neither wanting to meet Yue's eyes. Yue walked over to the bed, nudged Katara aside and sat down next to her.

"You're really serious." She said again. "And I'm starting to feel like I'm in the middle of some weird movie. I mean, you're not just doing this to play a trick on me. It's real, right?"

Katara nodded, more soberly this time. Yue nodded back, took a deep breath, and slid an arm around her best friend's shoulders.

"Well, okay. I guess you'd better tell me everything."

Katara remained quiet, so relieved that Yue hadn't ran away thinking she was crazy, yet scared that Yue didn't believe her and actually felt sorry for her. A tangle of raw emotions still throbbed inside her – anger, fear and sadness – at the prospect of baring her soul all over again. Opening up to Aunt Wu had been a disaster, and now sharing Zuko with another person seemed like an ultimate betrayal.

"Sokka," Yue said suddenly, "Would you please get out?"

Katara glanced up, surprised. A flicker of doubt crossed Sokka's face, and he stubbornly held his ground.

"No way! This thing is too out of control."

"Look, I know you're worried, but this is girl's talk." Yue soothed.

Sokka still wasn't convinced. He scowled, started to argue, but then seemed to think better of it. "Okay," he murmured sullenly, backing toward the door. "But you've got to promise that you'll tell Yue everything. _Everything_."

"And no lurking." Yue warned him. "If I catch you in the halls…"

Sokka's hands lifted in surrender. He backed completely out of the room and shut the door behind him. The girls waited. After several minutes, they heard his footsteps down the stairs and then slam the kitchen door.

"Now," Yue said firmly. Releasing Katara, she sat back to listen. "I'm all ears. And I'm siding with Sokka for once on this: tell me everything."

Katara gave her a reluctant nod. "Only if you promise not to tell Sokka the really juicy details. He knows everything but those."

"Juicy details?" Yue brightened. "I swear."

For the second time that day, Katara recited her strange tale, beginning with her decision to do her homework in the forest. Only this time, she shared everything. Not just the dramatic events of long ago, but how those events were beginning to steadily take over the present. How every one of those moments had been real, their intimate moments of passion overwhelming. How he was alive to her, so powerfully real. How guilty she felt over Sokka's worries and anger, and how much she hated him for it, although she knew he only meant to protect her. The things Aunt Wu had known and told her.

She told Yue everything she could possibly remember, all of her words and emotions poured out, while Yue just sat there and listened and held her hand.

Katara's voice lowered to a miserable whisper, "She said I'd have to die this time Yue. And then in my room, something just pulled me to my window, like Zuko was over there in the forest. And I can feel it, but I don't know what to do." She paused for a moment. "I love him, Yue, I really do. I know this is all crazy, but…I love him."

For a long time, neither girls said anything. Then Yue have a long sigh and curled up on a corner of the bed.

"Wow," she said softly, "You've been acting so funny – I knew something must be going on, but I had no idea…"

They both glanced at each other and Yue sat up.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

It wasn't said unkindly, but Katara could sense the hurt in Yue's voice. Guilt coursed through her.

"I wished I had," she admitted, "It was all so strange. At first the whole thing seemed like a dream, but then…"

Katara dropped her blue eyes. She felt her throat fill with tears and she swallowed hard, forcing them back.

"But then I didn't want to share it," she said quietly, "Especially with you."

Yue didn't respond. Several moments passed before Katara could go on, and when she did, her voice sounded deeply ashamed.

"Because it was just about me, ya know? I know it was wrong and immature and selfish, but…"

She drew a shaky breath, "But you were always the popular, beautiful one. You can have your pick of any guy in school, and they always want to go out with you. And then, when this whole thing happened with Zuko, for the first time I had someone too. He and I – I mean the passed away Katara – were so connected that I just…"

"You felt special." Yue finished softly. "And what is there to feel selfish about?" Her lips drew into a faint smile. "It's _him_, isn't it? Your dream guy. The perfect one you've been waiting for."

Katara stared at her friend for a moment before hugging her in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."

Yue smiled and pulled back, "No Katara, I'm sorry for making you feel that way and for not being there for you, some best friend I was huh?"

Katara nodded, "Yeah…"

They both giggled before falling silent again.

"But…but this Zuko guy," Yue reminded her gently. "I mean, he's a _ghost_? He sure doesn't seem all that safe to be around. If what Aunt Wu said was true…"

"You've got to promise not to tell Sokka about the prophecy thing, about me having to die, he would freak. But I've got to help him Yue. I've _got_ to find out why he's here."

Yue conceded with a half-hearted nod. She wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock back and forth slowly.

"May…maybe there's another way." She said at last. "Another way to settle this."

Katara looked hopefully at her friend. "What are you thinking?"

"We could hold a séance."

* * *

A seance - A meeting of people to receive spiritualistic messages and ghosts


	10. Chapter 10 Seance

Chapter 10 Séance 

"So what are you going to do?" Sokka stopped in his tracks, his arms full of candles, and stared at the girls climbing over the fallen logs.

"A séance," Yue said for the fourth time. "Seriously, is there something wrong with your hearing?"

"Mine's fine, totally fine. _I'm_ fine. But you, on the other hand, are completely insane. In fact, I think you're as bad as her over there."

Sokka tossed a scowl in Katara's direction while Yue gazed at him.

"And I think that if you really do want to help us in a conductive, nonviolent manner, then you'd better just shut up and help us with what we're doing." She said.

Sokka opened his mouth angrily, but then shut it quickly again. Swearing deeply under his breath, Sokka leaped over the logs and faced his sister.

"And you're telling me that Wu was in our house and actually _knew_ about all of this?"

"Yeah," Katara answered. "And you were right about Katara getting out of the fire that night – or that's what Aunt Wu thought. That's why Zuko came back. Because he's so miserable living without her."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Sokka exclaimed, "I didn't think he was living."

"He just loves her so much!" Yue felt Katara's elbow in her side and added quickly, "I mean – _loved_ her so much!"

"Hmm." Sokka stared at both of them through narrowed eyes. "And Aunt Wu said that if you contacted him, then he'd go away and leave you alone?"

Yue and Katara quickly exchanged silent glances before nodding together.

"Well it's worth a try, right?" Yue insisted.

"Oh well." Sokka rolled his eyes, "Well then, because Yue-the-one-who-is-always-right, _said_ so –"

Katara ignored their bantering and pulled at Sokka's sleeve. "So when are we planning the séance?"

"If the anniversary of the fire is around tomorrow, I say we better do it quick." Yue spoke out. "The quicker the better, in fact, I say we try it tonight."

Sokka shook his head and tired to pry Katara off of him. "Hey, how do we know it's even gonna work?"

Yue ignored him. "So it's decided then. We'll do it tonight. Darkness is more conductive to the spirit world."

Sokka threw her a wry glance. "And who made you the spiritual expert?"

"I, in fact, happen to know a lot about séances." Yue defended herself. "Remember when I interviewed that medium for the school article?"

"Yeah. The one who turned out to be a big fake?"

Yue made a face at him and even Katara had to smile at the two.

"Darkness is better," she repeated. "And three is a good, magical number."

"I don't want Katara to get hurt in anyway."

The two girls stared at Sokka, who had seemed to become very serious.

"Maybe Zuko's just…trapped in someway." Yue ventured softly. "You know, between this world and the next. Maybe he's too connected with the people and events here that he _can't_ move on."

Sokka shrugged. He gave his sister a sidelong glance. "Which means Katara."

"Exactly, which means Katara. So the way I see it, all we have to do is convince Zuko that he's dead."

"And how do you plan to do that? Hey Zuko, you need to get on with your life buddy! Oh –sorry – I mean _afterlife_!" Sokka's voice was mocking.

Yue, however, wasn't amused. "We'll just tell him okay? God Sokka, could you be any more of a – "

"I should tell him," Katara broke in. "I seem to be the one Zuko is most connected with, and so I should be the one to tell him."

"I don't like that." Sokka muttered. "I don't like it at all."

Yue's patience had reached its end. "What, you have a better suggestion?"

"You just don't know who we're dealing with! You and Katara are acting as though this is going to turn out like a romance novel where everyone's going to live happily every after! I'm telling you now, there's something wrong here. I can feel it! From everything I've heard about that day, Zuko wanted to save Katara from the fire and succeeded in doing so. Katara managed to get out and he died, so why's he still here?"

"Sokka, you don't know a thing about love." Yue snapped at him. "They were separated, Sokka, torn from each other. They planned to be with each other in life and death, so if Katara tells him to go, he probably –"

"You think he'll just go? Well think about this! What if he does, but then decides to take Katara with him?"

"Oh stop it!" Katara shouted. _You know don't you Sokka? What could happen even though I haven't told you…_ "Stop arguing and let's just do this!"

The two nodded sheepishly and walked on quietly through the woods, following her. Strangely, even though Katara had come there only twice, she knew the exact way to the small clearing. As the reached the edge of the clear ground, Katara stopped in her tracks and looked back.

"So where should we hold the séance?" she spoke again, more calmly and quietly this time.

Yue walked up next to her and then right past her to the center of the clearing. She motioned for Sokka to follow suit and he reluctantly did so. He dumped all of the candles onto the ground and stepped back.

"This is crazy." He grumbled. "God I can't believe we're standing here talking about this like it's –"

"Normal? No, it's not really normal, Sokka, but it's real. It is happening and we're the only ones that can stop this once and for all."

Sokka stared at Yue. She could see the worry in his eyes and heard him sigh as he ran one hand back through his hair.

"So we call him up." Sokka stated. "Then what happens?"

Yue looked at him proudly. "I've got it all planned out. Katara tells him she loves him. She gives him back the ring, and then he goes away."

"But this isn't Zuko's Katara, she's my sister." Sokka argued.

"But back then, she was." Yue was growing impatient again. "And Zuko thinks she is now, so that's all that matters. Problem solved."

"Just like that."

"Yeah, just like that."

Sokka made a noise of disgust in his throat and sat down on the cold earth. He looked over his shoulder at Katara.

"At nine, then. Mom's going over to Aunt Joe's tonight and I don't want her asking any questions."

"Nine o'clock." Yue affirmed.

"And not a word of this to anyone." Sokka reminded.

Slipping one arm around Katara's shoulder, she tried to sound confident. "Don't worry Sokka, we're doing the right thing."

"Yeah?" Sokka's troubled expression caught the girl's eyes. "Then how come it feels so wrong?"

….

"I guess we're ready then." Katara said, looking through her backpack.

Sokka pulled a flashlight out of her hands and flicked the light on Katara's face. As she put up a hand to block the sudden light, he flicked it off. Then he switched it back on.

"Will you quit that out?" Katara said with an annoyed edge on her voice. "Sokka, this is serious!"

"I know Katara, and I'm just being a good sport about the situation." He feigned innocence. "You and Yue obviously know what you're doing. You'll get no problems from me, I promise."

And with that, once more the flashlight shone in Katara's face and once more she grabbed for it. She was still in the process of wrestling it out of Sokka's hands when Yue opened their back door and entered, letting in a gust of icy, stinging wind. "Oh my god it's cold, it's starting to rain a bit I think."

Katara felt Sokka's grip loosen. She pulled away from him just in time to catch the expression on his face. He was staring at Yue. _Oh my god Sokka, you are so helplessly in love with her._ Sokka finally grunted and turned around, grabbing for his pack on the floor.

Yue, too, was staring Katara noticed. Taking in the full length of Sokka's backside, from his shaggy hair to his baggy dark sweater and jeans. As Sokka turned around without warning, Yue cleared her throat and gestured towards the door.

"It's raining a bit." She muttered again lamely for the second time.

"Thanks for the weather report. Twice." Sokka teased, deadpan.

Katara sighed, moment ruined. "Sokka, shut up."

"You don't have to come you know." Yue informed him primly. "I'm sure Katara and I can manage fine on our own."

Sokka's tone was all seriousness. "But I might get scared staying here all alone in the dark house. I better go along with you so you two can protect me."

Well, that settled that. Bundled against the cold, the trio cut across the backyard and climbed over the fallen logs, which had the faint spots of sprinkling rain. No one spoke as they neared the clearing, the way there still fresh in their minds. The beams from their flashlights shone uselessly against the smothering shadows of the night, and the sky was quickly thickening with dark rain clouds. As Katara watched the clearing and the bushes looming before them, she thought it had never loosed so somber, so tragically sad, so…

_So haunted…_

At the edge, the three paused and then Sokka walked in. Katara stared at the spot where Sokka had been standing. Frowning slightly, she glanced back toward a tree, _the_ tree at which she had died.

Yue noticed Katara spacing off and nudged her a bit. "Katara, you ok?"

Katara shook her head. As her eyes began focusing upon the tree trunk, an icy chill began to crawl through her veins. _No…Sokka…no _

"Don't let him go there." Katara said suddenly. "Make him come out."

Yue looked utterly confused. "What?"

"I don't know…" Katara reached over for her friend. "Something…I don't know. The weather too…I don't think we should be doing this –"

"Of course we should be doing this, we already had this discussion! We all agreed –"

"Well I don't agree now. I want Sokka to get out of there. _Please_ Yue, make him come out. No, we aren't doing the right thing! Sokka was right. Yue, this doesn't feel right."

"But Kat –"

"It's my and Zuko's incident! I should go alone."

"I won't let you do that – I guarantee that Sokka won't."

"Sokka? Sokka where are you?" Katara called out anxiously. Had he answered? The silence and darkness was so thick, so overwhelming, it felt like shadows echoing over and over through her head.

Katara cautiously walked over a log and into the large open clearing. She heard Sokka's whispering voice in front of her. The beam of Yue's flashlight joined hers in a wide, slow arc, revealing more of the dirt ground and bushes around them. Then suddenly, there! Katara saw Sokka's flashlight and quickly walked towards him before she could lose him again.

"Sokka," she whispered, "I think…I think that I should be doing this alone. You and Yue should just leave. I want to contact Zuko by myself."

Yue had quickly caught up with Katara and was now standing on the other side of Sokka.

"Don't even think about it! We're not going to leave you alone!" And as Sokka remained silent, Yue murmured, "Are we Sokka?"

Sokka seemed to rouse himself with great effort. In the dim glow of their flashlights, his skin shone unnaturally pale and thin.

"Tell her Sokka!" Yue was adamant. "Tell she's not staying by herself!"

"This place is so strong." Sokka whispered.

Startled, Katara took a step toward him. His face was expressionless, yet she could feel his fear, his dismay. She could feel his stunned realization of what was happening.

"Please go, Sokka." Katara asked again.

But he only continued to watch her. He watched her as she pleaded at him with her eyes. Slowly, Sokka shook his head and his lips tightened in a grim smile.

"I'm not leaving you Katara," he said quietly.

For a long moment, Katara just stared back at him. Despite his growing fear, Sokka's surge of protectiveness nearly overwhelmed her. His resolve was like stone. She could tell that he understood the enormity of the danger now and she opened herself to his strength.

At last she nodded.

"This is it then," she sighed. Reluctantly setting down her bag near the candles they had left earlier that day. "This is where we'll hold the séance." Yue walked towards her looking wary.

"Are you sure?"

Katara hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah I'm sure."

Together they emptied the contents of the bag. While Katara spread out the blanket one the forest floor, Yue stuck the candles as deep and stable as she could before Sokka lit them.

"Okay," Yue whispered after giving the set-up one last inspection. "I think that's it then. Everyone sit down now."

Before anyone could do anything, a sudden gust of rainy wind blew through the clearing, sending a mournful howl. The candles guttered wildly. As the flames tired to settle down, the two girls took their positions with Sokka between them. Yue set a candle onto the ground in the center of their little circle. Then they nervously joined hands.

"Okay," Yue whispered at last. "Go ahead Katara."

She looked uncertain. "What do I say?"

"Call for him. Tell him…you know…that he's dead." Yue thought for a moment, then added, "And even though they didn't die together in the barn that night, the _real_ Katara is dead now. So he can just go back…wherever."

Katara nodded. She gave Yue's hand one last squeeze before letting out a slow breath.

"Zuko?" she began her voice low. "Zuko are you here?"

Silence. An ominous silence even deeper than it had been. It was so malevolent that Katara suddenly gasped and began talking faster.

"Zuko please answer me. It's Katara."

_We shouldn't have come…I should have known better…_Katara's mind went racing. She was having trouble keeping her thoughts in control. She ran her tongue nervously over her lips and tried even harder to concentrate.

"Zuko. It's me Katara. Can you hear me?"

But still only the still silence answered her question.

"Please Zuko, I need to talk to you."

Yue looked at her encouragingly and nodded. "Keep doing that, just keep saying his name."

"Or better yet, let's just give up and go home." Sokka exclaimed. He tried to get up and leave, but Yue's firm grip on his hand pulled him back down.

"Look, this is stupid!" Sokka tried to reason with her. "Even if he does recognize her voice, he isn't going to appear in front of a crowd. Let's just get out of here!"

Katara was ignoring them completely, just shutting them out. She had her eyes tightly shut as she concentrated and forced her memory to become sharper – _his face…golden eyes… his passion when he kissed her…his touch…_

"I know you've been trying to reach me," she murmured, her voice barely audible. "I just want you do know that I miss you…and I'm here for you…I love you…"

Opening her eyes, Katara stared into the flame of the center candle. She could see the piercing brightness of its light, calming her, hypnotizing her. Then she heard him. His voice so clear and unmistakable that it resounded through her entire body.

_"Nothing will happen to me as long as I have you…"_

"You do still have me Zuko," she whispered.

From some remote part of herself, Katara could see Yue looking at her so strangely, and Sokka's mouth opening in a horrified, silent cry. She frowned and stared back at them, their figures so close yet so distant. _Who are these people, why are they here with Zuko and me?_

"You still have me, Zuko." She said again and the young brow-haired man next to her was shouting at her now, frantic words that she couldn't hear. And the young woman who looked so terrified…

"You'll always have me!"

A freezing gust of air swept across them in the cold night. From nowhere, came a low moan, a sound of such anguish and despair that Katara's heart felt torn out of her chest. She held out her arms as if she could gather all of the pain into herself.

"I love you Zuko." Katara said strongly.

Her words were lost as strong lips pressed upon hers, a kiss both fierce and desperate. Through a hazy fog she could see the two people still there, but they were also beginning to fade, their pale frightened faces shimmering weakly.

"Who are you?" Katara's voice trembled slightly with rage. Cold drops of rain began falling into her eyes and matting her hair. "What are you doing at our place?" and yet, Katara could sense the real reason for their visit, some part of her sensed the imminent danger –

"Azula sent you didn't she? Well we will never be separated! Leave us alone!"

"Katara!" to her horror, the young man was shouting at her, "Tell him Katara! Tell him he has to go!"

"Go away!"

As Katara reached out of his grasp, the young man's eyes suddenly widened and rolled back into his head. She could see his hands working frantically at his throat, his skin turning dark red, the deep marks of someone else's fingerprints forming along his windpipe. The woman screamed as something struck her violently, hurling her to the floor.

Katara stood silently and watched. The young man wasn't struggling anymore. He gave out only the weakest of sighs and his knees buckled underneath him.

The young woman was sobbing hysterically, her voice almost lost in the howling of rain and wind. As Sokka fell forward, he spoke to her in one last whisper:

"Help me Yue…something bad…"

Quietly, one by one, the candles went out.


End file.
